Revenge
by Scarlett Kingston
Summary: Loki is back in Asgard. After the incident with the Avengers, he has escaped. His hatred towards his brother, Thor, is rekindled stronger than before and he will do anything to take back the throne of Asgard. With Sigyn at his side, he will rule Asgard.
1. Prologue: Spark of the Past

I do not know how often I will be able to update this with school and all, but I will do my best. Since Sigyn has almost no background in Norse Mythology, and only some in the Marvel comics, I will be kinda creating her from scratch. This is set after The Avengers, and could possibly be my own idea of what Thor 2 should be like (yes people, they are making it). This is only my second story, so please do not flame. Any critiques/compliments are great to read, and you guys can suggest future chapter ideas or titles if you want. I may or may not consider them because I already know where this is going, but if I do use an idea suggested I will definitely give that person credit.

This shouldn't have to be mentioned...but:

I do not own these characters, they belong to Marvel and I have no intention of using them for any purposes to gain money, take over the world, etc. This was made purely for entertainment purposes.

Lastly, I must thank my Beta Reader Indigoxsoul for her wonderful help in deciphering my jumbled mess I call a story.

Hope you guys enjoy this!

-Kipp

Prologue: Spark of the Past:

_A young girl was running down one of the many gravel paths in the garden. She had golden shoulder-length hair, and was wearing a silvery blue-green dress. Her face seemed familiar to him, but he could not place it. Her face was bright with a smile, and her green eyes seemed to glow with playful mischief. Suddenly, from behind her came two other figures; two boys, one with blond hair who seemed to be a couple of years older than the girl, and one with black hair who looked to be about the same age as her. He knew the two as himself, Loki, and his brother Thor. They were both drenched with water from a practical joke. Thor, the faster of the two, seemed to be annoyed while Loki, in one of his rare moments, was smiling, and a very mischievous smile at that._

-It was a dream. Loki knew it, but he could not wake himself from it. He shuddered in his sleep, but the dream continued.-

_The girl disappeared around one of the walls of shrubbery and he could see himself behind Thor starting to phase through the green wall of foliage and vines. When he had come through to the other side the girl had not yet reached him. He quickly hid around the bend, waiting for her. Loki could hear the soft pounding her feet made as she ran on the gravel pathway. She was close. So close that he could see her elongated shadow nearing the edge of the corner he was hiding beside. He put his hands closer together and they began to glow, lighting up his face with a sickly green aura. The girl rounded the bend sharply and slid next to Loki and whispered innocently, "Do you think he'll fall for it?"_

"_Knowing my brother as I do, he will not be able to resist the temptation of a brawl," said Loki with a wicked grin as he looked into the girl's eyes. She smiled sweetly back at him, and he looked away, his grin wavering as the light between his fingers dimmed ever so slightly. He looked back up when he heard the crunch of gravel. "Here he comes," he whispered._

-Loki was now tossing in his bed. He hated dreams, they were worse than nightmares. Especially if they were old memories. His hair had begun to stick to his face from perspiration.-

_At sixteen, Thor was a hulking body of muscles and testosterone and blond hair, and when he had come around the corner he expected to find Loki waiting for him to finish his prank, but what he came to see was his friend Sigyn sitting in the middle of the path...and...of all things, crying. He walked up to her and knelt down. "What is wrong, Sigyn? You are not one to cry." He paused awkwardly when she did not respond. "Sigyn," he said again, this time a little more seriously. "What is wrong? Was it that trickster brother of mine again?" Still Sigyn did not respond. From a hill a little distance away Loki and Sigyn crouched, waiting to see how Thor would react. "Sigyn, will you look at me," commanded Thor. He reached out for her wrists, but his hands went straight through them. The crying was no longer crying anymore, but laughter. Thor looked at the hologram of Sigyn with disgust as he pulled his hands away. Suddenly it looked up at him, and that made him jump. But quickly the scene changed, it went from dream to nightmare. Thor was no longer standing before Sigyn, but instead it was Loki. The sky around had grown almost black, and only the moon shone. The light it gave off was dark, and it was shrouded by a pallor green mist. The surroundings were, instead of beautiful green foliage, cold, glaring stone walls. The green eyes of Sigyn, which were unwavering, were piercing him and he couldn't appear to move. He began to panic inside; he could not move. That moment under Sigyn's stare seemed to last forever._

-Loki, in his bed, was now tossing more viciously and was moaning. If only he'd awaken from this torture!-

_The young Loki was for once in his life speechless, his silver tongue still. After another agonizing moment had passed, Loki spoke. "Sigyn?" he breathed softly. She started to chuckle again. Drops of cold sweat ran down his neck and between his shoulder blades. "Sigyn," he spoke again, this time louder than before. Her chuckle became a high pitched laugh. He took a step forward towards her. Her laughing suddenly stopped. _"_Gotcha!" she said as she leaped towards him, her hologram self becoming live, poisonous snakes. He yelled, but before they reached him he awoke._

Loki woke up screaming. "NO!" He was breathing heavily, his hair sticking to the back of his neck and his face. He looked down at the bed he lay in, the sheets were twisted and in knots. The pillow his head had been resting on was almost as wet as if one had poured a glass of water on it. He ran his pale fingers through his sticky, jet black hair, and swung his feet over the edge of the bed. They hit with a slap as he lifted his thin, light frame from the mattress. Walking over to the doors that lead out onto the small balcony, he opened them violently, and felt a bitterly cold breeze sting his bare chest and arms. He didn't mind it in the least, the sting felt good to him. He smiled wickedly and for a brief moment it took his thoughts from her. He sighed deeply. But as he did his face became hard again, Sigyn's stare came back into his mind and he remembered. Remembered all the times she, Thor, and he would play Asgardian and Midgardian games (tag being their favorite from Midgard). The time he and Sigyn had stole a few precious moments together and she had kissed him on his right cheek. His face began to burn, not a feeling he liked in the least. He quickly and angrily shut the doors. He did not want to remember her for some reason he did not know himself; he just didn't.

He walked out of his cool green chambers into the open hallway, down it, and into a room lit dimly by glowing purple orbs. In the center was a pillar of gray stone, cut in the shape of a hexagon. In the very center of the pillar was a large silver basin, and in it the purest, clearest, most still water one could imagine. Below the pillar were three steps, he walked up these to see into the bowl. Looking into the shallow basin, he saw his reflection. A cold, flat reflection; he sneered at it. Speaking softly into the air, the water began to slowly ripple from the center outwards. The purple orbs began to glow brighter, lighting the room just enough so that Loki could see the inscriptions on the pillar. What he spoke was "Slå på, åpner for å vise meg lyset" which translated means "turn on, open to show me the light."

The bowl, from its depths, began to glow a blue-ish color. Loki looked at it for a moment, hesitating on whether or not he should look back into the bowl once he asked what he wanted to see. Then he spoke. "Show me Sigyn." The water began to ripple again, and the light dimmed slightly as the colors came into focus. He saw her, beautiful as ever he had seen her before. Her golden locks longer, just past her shoulders, and her green eyes, ever piercing. She was riding a gray dapple horse as she came to the gates of...He stared at the image in the bowl...She was back in Asgard. His expression throughout this had not changed, but his eyes had a different, almost softer tinge to them. He waved his hand over the bowl. There was a small puff of white smoke that came from the edges of the silver basin and floated downwards, and the now brightly lit purple orbs turned back to a simmer of color. The room was now almost black, and from within the darkness came a darker, blacker voice.

"I am coming Sigyn. I am coming for you."

-END PROLOGUE-


	2. Chapter 1: Return of Spirits

Okay, this chapter has been rewritten. Hope you all like it, I know I really enjoyed writing it.

-Kipp

Chapter 1: Return of Spirits

It was raining as Sigyn entered the courtyard of the palace in Asgard. Her gray dapple stallion was wetter than she from sweat, rain, and hard riding. She was finally back in Asgard. Gracefully, she dismounted her charger, which was then quickly taken by two of the palace guards to the stables. She stood in the middle of the square, looking around at the scenery before her. A tall, white tree with golden leaves stood erect in the center of the tan stone courtyard; the golden walls of the palace loomed far above the tree, looking as if they almost touched the sooty, grey sky. Nearer to the ground was a covered walkway, weaved with delicate, green vines and sweet, purple flowers...and a person standing under it. A tall, lean, light-haired man with a thin, fine-point rapier swaggered over to her.

"Well, hello Miss," he said as he came up behind her. She glanced at him, throwing a quick, impetuous smile. "And what is a beautiful creature like yourself doing out in the rain? Won't you join me under the promenade?" he finished with a flash of his brilliantly white smile.  
"Yes thank you, that would be very nice," said Sigyn politely. She pulled her moss green hood closer around her face to stop the rain from getting in her eyes as they drifted upward. She saw a golden haired man looking out from the window, down into the courtyard. Thor. She saw him puff up his chest and look to the side, and when she looked back at the man in front of her, she saw he was mocking his stance. Thor looked back and her and gave her a wink, walking away from the window. Sigyn rolled her eyes, and let out a small snicker. Fandral, for that was the stuffy man's name, raised one of his brows, and Sigyn immediately stopped smiling, realizing what he was probably thinking. He then took her gently by the hand and lead her under the terrace. She let her soaking hood flop down, and her face became truly visible for the first time.

"My what an exquisite jewel you are," said Fandral in awe, using his charm to try and woo her. She smiled sweetly at him and brushed her golden hair back.  
"Why thank you, Sir..." She let her sentence trail.  
"Fandral," he replied quickly as they walked inside the palace, "My name is Fandral. But you," he paused as he looked up and down her. "You have not yet told me your name, and with how your beauty radiates from within, I think it highly cruel that those who look upon your face do not know your name." Her smile grew slightly wider and she blushed, but in her heart she wished that he would leave her alone; she was tired, cold, and wet.  
"My name is Sigyn," she replied with a sweet coolness to her voice. He flashed another eccentric smile at her again as they walked forward, making their way over to the large doors of the Palace.  
"Well, I am very honored to meet you Lady Sigyn." They entered the Valholl, a golden room lined with hundreds of magnificently hand carved doors and hundreds of golden shields that adorned the walls. Three magnificent, crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting shimmering flecks of white light throughout the hall. "Do you visit here oft-.." Fandral was abruptly cut short in his speech by a loud, boisterous voice.  
"Sigyn!" said the deep, brisk voice. It was Thor, who had taken notice of her almost immediately when she entered into the hall. He came up to her and gave her a hug as only Asgardian's can give, which is to say that if you were human it would have squeezed the life out of you. "You are soaking wet!" he exclaimed loudly after he had let her out of his embrace. Then turning to Fandral he said jokingly, "I thought you were supposed to be quite the ladies man, Fandral." Sigyn began to snicker. "And yet you do not offer this fine damsel a chance to get dry by the hearth or offer her a cup of our finest mead!" The suave gentleman began to turn red in the face.

"I-oh...I am so sorry," he began to apologize, but Sigyn put up her hand.  
"No, that is quite alright, Thor." She turned her gaze from Thor to Fandral. "I am sure his intentions were pure in heart, but rather rash as they seemed to not have passed through his brain," she said playfully. Fandral immediately boxed up what he had been going to say, and turned the color of Thor's illustrious crimson cape. Sigyn just stood their smiling ever so innocently as Thor tried his best not to laugh out loud, at which he was failing.  
"If you will kindly excuse me Thor, Lady Sigyn," said Fandral his voice wavering ever so slightly, "I must leave on and errand of the utmost importance." And with that, he gave a slight bow and backed away, leaving the Great Hall. After he had left, Thor turned back to Sigyn as they walked out of the large room.  
"You should not insult Fandral as such," said Thor with a wry grin, "He may forget his place and be overly charismatic towards all of the opposite sex, and seem rather arrogant-"  
"Seem?"  
"May _be _rather arrogant in his speech, but his heart is true and loyal." Thor paused for a moment. "Once he gets his head out of his pants," he finished tacitly.  
Sigyn gave a laugh of that of tinkling bells as she and Thor walked along. "As is my heart Thor, as you well know. Yet Loki and I always played the worst pranks on you when we were children."  
"Yes, I remember," said Thor flatly. "Especially the one in the gardens."  
"Ah yes," said Sigyn with a wide, mischievous smile spreading across her lips. "You mean the time you screamed like a little girl?" Thor did not respond but only walked on in silence. "Ah, I see you are still a bit touchy on that one." They walked on in silence for a while, only listening to the sound that their feet made on the slick, marble flooring. They reached a door that was intricately carved wood with a golden-green hue.  
"Here are you chambers, Sigyn. After you've changed from your wet things, would you accompany me on a walk through of the gardens?"  
"I would be delighted, it has been forever since I've visited them. I will only be a moment." She quickly turned around and disappeared into her room.  
It was several moments later before she came back out, but when she did she was wearing a knee length golden-green dress with a detailed vine accent stitched in the finest gold thread and a pair of brown leather sandals that came up only half way up her calf. Around her neck, just below her collarbones, hung a delicately handcrafted ornamentation of a serpent, it's wicked emerald eyes almost glowing. The top half of her hair was tied behind her head while the rest of it she let to hang down on her shoulders. Thor smiled when she came out. "You look gorgeous, Sigyn." She gave him a small curtsy, and a coy grin.

They both walked onto the veranda (it had now stopped raining), down the blue-gray stone steps, and onto the gravel pathway that each knew so well from their childhood together. As they strolled aimlessly down the winding path, they began to talk about many things. Sigyn's family and her well doing, her deeper learning of healing and magic, political problems in Asgard, and of the various skirmishes on the borders of many realms.  
"Now, what I want to know is how is Loki," asked Sigyn rather suddenly. "I have not seen him here the entire time that I have been here. Is he alright?" Thor looked at her with troubled curiosity.  
"You do not know?" asked Thor quizzically.  
"Know what?" Sigyn responded.  
"I thought everyone knew." He paused. "Sigyn, Loki is missing and has been for several months. He is wanted in every realm. He escaped, and we assume he is either dead or just in hiding." Sigyn's face swam with bewilderment, agony, and disbelief. But they kept walking. "How is it," Thor began, but was hastily cut off by Sigyn.  
"He is not dead." Her voice jumped pitches. "I know he is not dead."  
"How?" asked Thor seriously.  
"If he had died I would have felt it. He and I are...were close. I am certain he is still alive though." Her brow furrowed. "And in pain," she finished.  
"How is it," began Thor again, "that you of all people did not know about Loki's betrayal, and disappearance?" Sigyn gave him a halfhearted smile, appearing to remember a painful past memory.

"Loki and I-...we lost connection with one another after I had left to study in the art of healing and to take care of my family, and during peace times not much news travels through the infirmary." She paused again. "Oh Thor, I miss him. I miss him ever so much. I was hoping he'd be here, but-.." This time Sigyn was cut off, but by a voice other than Thor's. A fiercer voice.  
"He is not here, and if he dares to show his disgusting, pale face in this courtyard he will most definitely regret it." A black haired woman walked up to Thor and Sigyn.  
"Sif," said Thor, an immense smile plastering itself on his face. "Won't you join us?"  
"I would gladly," she replied, absolutely no change in her facial expression. "Fandral has been acting so strange, and Volstagg is asleep from his meal."  
"When is Fandral not acting strange?" asked Thor with an impetuous smile, raising one of his eyebrows.  
"Uh, Thor," cut in Sigyn hastily. "I must leave now. I left my horse with the guards and I still have to unpack the few belongings that I brought to get settled in." She threw a soft smile at Thor. He chuckled slightly.  
"Alright Sigyn, you go and do what is needed to be done, but promise me you will show your illustrious face at the banquet tonight." Sigyn's smile widened.  
"I promise, Thor." She came up to him and gave him a hug and a small peck on his bearded face. After she had left the gardens, Sif turned to Thor.  
"She misses Loki, doesn't she." It was said more like a statement rather than a question.  
"Yes, she does. She has always loved him as he has her," he replied solemnly.  
"He does not deserve one so pure and loyal, but she is a fool to follow him like a pup follows its mother," spat Sif, not cruelly but very disapprovingly. Thor looked at her with and almost disappointed expression on his face.  
"Do not speak of her like that," he said, a little anger on the edge of his voice. "She is the kindest, dearest woman known to the Asgardian Courts." There was a short pause.  
"You are worried for her, aren't you," Sif said, this time with more gentility. He looked up at the fair blue sky for a moment, and then back at Sif.  
"Yes, extremely. With how much she is still attached to him I am concerned for her safety. She is smart and witty as my brother is, but she is also naive and puts her trust in people and things that she does not fully understand. I hope to goodness that she sees through all my brother's vile lies before she becomes too far gone to notice the difference between truth and lies."

X X X

Sigyn walked back down the long corridor into her chambers and closed the door, leaning against it. Her arms were full of bags and parcels. The entire time she had been gathering her things she hadn't forgotten what Sif had said about Loki. She could never remember a time when she and that warrior woman had ever gotten along, especially over the topic of Loki. She didn't dislike her, but they never seemed to be on the best of terms. But the comment she had made about him "_if he dares to show his disgusting, pale face in this courtyard he will most definitely regret it"_, it had only infuriated her. She was never one to grow extremely angry at others, but that comment. She could not stand it. She walked away from the door and went over to the couch that was in her chambers and set all her belongings on it. _I suppose it is not the best to linger on one's anger,_thought Sigyn, _no matter what the subject_. Sighing, she let her thoughts drift from Sif to the banquet tonight. She had to get ready. Thor was expecting her, and the banquet would be in about two hours.

X X X

When Sigyn walked into the Valholl she was greeted warmly by Thor and his four friends. That is to say Thor and Volstagg greeted her with a hearty hello and a hard smack on the back (those two had already dunk more mead than was good for them), Fandral with a dashing smile (he seemed to be back to his old suave self) and a kiss on the hand, Sif with a slight nod of the head, and Hogun with a grunt. Thor led them over to the banquet table, which was a very long, rounded spear head, and they sat down. There was wonderful food on the table, so many delicacies that she had missed over the years. There were many people also already seated at the tables and Sigyn knew most of them from spending several months every year in the palace. There was Eir, her mentor from the healing school; Eldir, one of the important guards, and his two servants; Fulla and Gna, the queen's two servants; Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifrost; Hermod, Odin's servant; Theoric, Sigyn's fiancée, and Syn, a very disagreeable woman who had command over all the comings and goings throughout Valholl. There were many others also at the banquet, but the rest of these she knew not. She could see Odin and his wife, Frigga, sitting at the head of the table. Odin stood up, and the room quieted. He paused for a moment, gathering everyone's attention.

"Asgardians, old friends and new, I the All-Father welcome you to this banquet tonight. It has been eight centuries since the battle on Midgard against the Jotun's, and two years since the fall of the Bifrost. My son," here he motioned to Thor. "My son has fought valiantly on the shores of Midgard against the schemes of the god of mischief, keeping Midgard as well as Asgard free from his acts of roguery. So, a toast to my son Thor, the god of thunder." Odin raised his golden chalice high in the air and all others followed suit. Sigyn raised her glass, but not very high. "To Thor!" said Odin loudly.  
"To Thor!" shouted everyone in the hall. Sigyn did not say anything, but merely raised her glass slightly higher and took a small sip, while others downed the entire content.  
"May he triumph always over all adversaries such as the god of mischief!" shouted one man from the mead hall, nearly falling over as he spoke.  
"Yes," shouted another man with slurred speech, "let the blood from Loki's veins stain the hands of those who he has wronged." Sigyn began to feel uncomfortable as the atmosphere of the room started to change.  
Another voice called out. "Let him die by those of whom he did not deserve love from!" Sigyn's face began to redden slightly from annoyance, and pain marked her face. She was abashed at the ill words spoken of Loki.  
A rougher, gruffer, harsher voice rose above all of the noises of the banquet hall, that of a drunk Theoric said, "May he die alone and cold, as befits a charlatan backbiter!" Many glasses were raised and hurrays, and crude laughter echoed through the halls in agreement to his mockery. Sigyn could stand it no longer. She pushed her chair back roughly and shot up out of her seat, quickly and angrily deserting the company she had been with. No one seemed to care about Sigyn's disappearance from the table. Thor saw her leave, but he knew that it would be better for her to cool off from the harsh words that had been spoken. Only one other saw her leave the table and knew why; Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifrost.

X X X

Sigyn walked crisply out through one of the 540 doors of the Valholl, grabbing her green cloak as she left, her mouth pinched tightly shut and her pace quicker than normal. She did not slow her walk until she had come to the terrace that lead down to the garden. There was a stone bench near the edge of the veranda, she slumped down and looked up at the night sky. The moon shone large and bright, but something looked different. She couldn't place it, but it just seemed the wrong color. She looked back down to the gardens, it's winding pathway, the hedges of green foliage, and the fountain that sprayed the coldest water she had ever known. Sigyn could recall the day she and Loki had played that one prank on Thor that made him scream like a girl. She closed her eyes and let out a very cheerless sigh. _Why_, she thought, _why did he have to change so much from the boy I knew him to be? I loved him._She felt another's presence, but did not turn round. Her eyes flicked open. "Can you see him?" she asked Heimdall, for it was he who had silently walked up behind her.  
"No," he replied in his deep, kind, solemn voice. "I cannot. He has hidden himself from my eyes and ears and I am no longer able to know his whereabouts." Sigyn looked down into her lap, and neither Asgardian spoke.

"What happened to him, what did he do to deserve such hatred from everyone?"  
Heimdall was silent for a moment. "He built his plan around anger and resentment towards those whom he thought had betrayed him, and executed it in a manner as such, but anything done in anger will only lead to shame. He did not see this. That is why so many are filled with hatred towards Loki." After he had spoken, Heimdall turned and walked back into the building knowing that Sigyn wanted to be left alone. She looked out to the dark, star filled horizon and back at the four moons. A black crow alighted on one of the many branches of the trees that lined the garden. "I wish you were here, Loki," she whispered. Then, as she wrapped her moss green cloak about her, she stood up and sorrowfully walked back inside. The crow that was perched in the tree glided silently over to the bench that Sigyn had been sitting on, it's cold, black eyes following her as she entered into the building.

X X X

Sigyn's chamber was gorgeous. All of the walls and pillars and the entire floor, steps and all, were made from a cool, cream marble without blemish. Most of the material, the curtains, the bedding, the couch, they were made with either a deep green or rich scarlet velvet, or occasionally a combination of the two. All of the accents and decoration were made from the purest gold. Many green candles, some floating and others resting on furniture, lit the room dimly with a golden glow, and a small waterfall fountain let the sweet water dance over it's lip into the small lagoon beneath it. The total ambiance the room gave off was one of tranquility, and compassion. The silk, green nightgown Sigyn was wearing made her eyes seem to glow as the candles in the room. Humming softly to herself the song which she had made for Loki years ago, she brushed out her long, golden hair in front of a mirror. She set the brush down on the top of the dresser that held the mirror, leaned her head to one side, and let her eyes glaze over with sleepiness. Suddenly, her eyes became alive and quickly jumped back up to the mirror's reflective surface. She thought she had seen something move from behind in the shadows. She leaned in closer to the mirror to see if she could see anything. Nothing. Standing up, she walked over to the open doorway that lead onto the balcony and moved through the thin, green under curtains and over to the marble railing of the colonnade. Still nothing. She looked up at the night sky with a puzzled expression on her face. The moon, which normally would have been a watery silver, along with the mist that surrounded it looked green. Not a nice shade of green either, but a sickly pale, almost deathly shade of green. She raised one of her eyebrows. A voice from behind her spoke.

"Sigyn, come here," it said. It was a dark, slick, slithering voice. Sigyn turned around and ran to the corner of the balcony that was completely concealed in black shadows and embraced a man. It was Loki. They held each other for a long while before either spoke. When they did, Sigyn was the first.  
"Why," she asked almost breathlessly. "Why did you not tell me what was going on? Why did you keep me in the dark for so long?"  
"I missed you, you know," he said, avoiding the question, fondling her soft face.  
"Loki, why-.." He didn't let her finish her question; only took her deeper into his arms and kissed her forcibly, silencing her. After their lips parted he said, "I missed you...deeply," the inflection on deeply dripping with lust. Sigyn put her hands on his face and weaved her fingers through his black hair.  
"I missed you too," she said, a small smile beginning to glow on her face. "I was thinking that-..that I would never-..." But she was never able to finish her sentence. A loud bang came from behind her. Someone had thrown open her door.  
"Sigyn!" called Thor loudly as he walked into her room. "Are you in here?" Loki's muscles tightened and his grip around Sigyn's waist became like a vice.  
"Loki," said Sigyn in the quietest whisper possible. "Loki, let go of my waist, that hurts, and if I do not go and see Thor he will come looking for me out here and will find you." Reluctantly, the black haired man let her go, and she walked back into the candlelit room. "Yes Thor," she said loudly as she entered.  
"Ah, there you are. I was just concerned, you left the table so abruptly I did not have time to ask what was wrong."  
"You know very well what is wrong, Thor. You were never a very good liar," replied Sigyn shortly.  
"No? Well then, humor me and please tell me what you are so upset about," replied Thor flatly.  
"What I am upset about? It is how those other men out there can be so conceited and say such things about one who they do not understand," she said as she pointed towards the direction of the dining hall.

"Sigyn," said Thor, his voice taking a softer tone as he walked up to her and rested one of his calloused hands on her soft shoulder. "You should not let your thoughts linger on Loki." Frowning, she pulled away from his hand, turning her back towards him. "It is not good for you to keep yourself in the past, it will only make you bitter. He is not good for you." Sigyn clenched her jaw, and did not respond for fear she would say something she'd regret. "Also," continued Thor, as he walked up behind her. "I thought I heard another voice in here with you. Was there someone else in here?" Sigyn turned her head to the side so she could see him out of one of her green eyes.  
"Thor," she replied in an innocently patronizing style, "the only voice you heard in here was my own. I was talking to myself." She paused. "I do that you know." Thor smiled gently at her, but Sigyn could tell that he did not believe her, he was such a terrible liar. "I would like to retire to bed now, Thor. I will not be rejoining the party downstairs, so if you would pardon me I would be very grateful." Thor backed away from her and bowed ever so slightly.  
"What ever you wish, Sigyn...Sleep well." And with that he left her chambers, closing the door softly behind him as he went.

X X X

Thor walked back down the hallway that lead to Sigyn's room, his grip tightening with each step he took, and his face filling with more anger. Finally, he walked into the Valholl where is friends were waiting for him in the corner of the room.  
"So," asked Sif when he had reached them. "What happened?"  
"Something is not right. She is a very talented liar, but not that talented." Thor's tone was filled with controlled acidity, but his expression lacked the control his voice had.  
"Why did you go up there," asked Hogun.  
"I sensed a presence. Something does not feel right. I think Loki is back in Asgard," said Thor straightly.  
"Loki?" said Sif, her face filling with dread. "But he was locked away. I know, I was there with you. He couldn't have escaped. His restraints, they-..."  
"Were not able to contain him," interrupted Thor blankly.  
"_If _Loki is back," said Fandral, "You do realize that we are in for a lot of trouble...Especially Lady Sigyn."  
"A _lot _does not even begin to cover it, Fandral. He does _not _deserve love," said Sif cruelly. "Not from her."  
"Yes, I fear for Sigyn," said Thor sadly. "I think she may already have chosen the path to which she wants, and she will not like the outcome."  
"Couldn't Loki have tricked her to take the wrong one?" asked Fandral.  
"To a degree, maybe. But in reality it is her choice. No one else's, and if she chooses to follow Loki down the path of destruction, none of us can stop either of them." The five friends stood there solemnly and soon each went off on their own to ponder about the current predicament.

X X X

Back in the cool green, scarlet, and gold of Sigyn's chambers, Loki and Sigyn were kissing passionately. He was leaning over her on the scarlet couch, keeping her from leaving his dominating grasp, his hands resting on the emerald fringes of the back of the couch.  
"I missed you," said Sigyn.  
"I know," cooed Loki.  
"Why-.."  
"Why what?" She pulled away from him, and looked deep into the sea of emerald. He tried to avoid her ever piercing eyes.  
"Why didn't you tell me-..." He began to lean in to her, closing the gap between her mouth and his. She calmly placed two of her fingers against his thin lips, and stared at him solemnly. He looked down the end of his nose at her fingers and glowered at them, and then reverted his gaze back into Sigyn's eyes."What is going on?" His pupils dilated, and the deep emerald of his eyes became flat and stoney.  
"I could not find you," he lied, as he stiffly got up off the couch, pulling himself away from her, and began to walk around the room. "I _did _look, but you kept yourself so well hidden. After you left to go to the healing school, I lost connection with you and could no longer see you."  
"I have heard some of the stories about you since I have been back. Thor's banishment, you taking the throne and the destroying Jotunheim. And later going to Midgard and trying to become its king..._your _banishment. How much of what they say are truths and how many are lies?"  
"All of what they say is true, but how they speak of why I did it is false," said Loki coldly. "They do not know what it is like, being treated like you are always second best." Sigyn got up and gingerly walked over to him. Grabbing his hands that were folded about his chest, she turned him to face her.  
"But I know," she reminded him quietly as she laid her fingers on his lips and with the other hand started to play with his hair as Loki did not quite meet her eye. "I know what they do not, and I believe you Loki."

Loki shook his head and pushed her away, turning from her. He looked down at the floor, his voice becoming sharp with controlled anger as he spoke through his teeth. "Thor _betrayed _me. He took some of Midgard's strongest warriors and fought against me as if _I _were the hated enemy when _I _am his brother, only trying to live up to what he is. But he could not see that..._none _of them could."  
Sigyn shook her head, grabbing both of his hands in hers so he would look at her. As she spoke she began to pull her his hands up towards her face. "Then he is blind," she cooed innocently as she began to pull herself into his hardening grasp, "You are a great man Loki. Better than Thor could _ever _be, and I believe that you would make a wonderful king." She pressed her lips to his knuckles, kissing them tenderly. Loki's angered expression faltered slightly when he heard those words fall out of Sigyn's mouth. His arms tightened around her waist, his anger melting into passion as he leaned forward and captured her into a burning, biting kiss.

Sigyn tensed, pulling back fully from him this time as she turned away, disliking his acidic embrace. It frightened her when he was this possessive, and she felt the need to create a small barrier between the two until he calmed. She allowed two of his fingers to linger on her shoulder as he looked on. When he realized the kiss had caused her distress, his eyes softened a fraction more and he began to stroke the two fingers up and down arm. Sigyn's eyes closed at his touch. Loki noticed the dark circles under her lids. "You should sleep. You look tired." There was a pause after he spoke, and Sigyn hesitantly looked back into his eyes. Before she could protest, he picked her up and walked over to the edge of her cream and emerald colored bed, laying her gently on the soft mattress. He rested one hand on the bed, lowering himself to hover over her, "Sleep now," he murmured into her ear. Sigyn turned her head to look into his beguiling green eyes, their noses brushing softly against one another. She rolled her head to one side, listless and lacking the energy to kiss him one last time before she fell asleep. Sigyn frowned slightly, confused at the sudden legarthy of her body. A slight smile graced Loki's face as he leaned forward to place his lips softly against hers. She could feel the cool, firmness of his lips linger on her own velvet ones, but she lacked the energy to kiss him back. Loki pulled away slowly with a satisfied glint in his eyes, sitting back and watching her as her eyelids closed. Her breathing became less rapid and all of her muscles relaxed; a mischievous grin spread across his face.

-END CHAPTER 1-


	3. Chapter 2: A Scent of Fire

Alright you guys, here's chapter two. Took me a while, but I think everything's edited enough to be read outside of just me and my Beta Reader. On that note, I would to thank my Beta Reader Indigoxsoul for helping with this chapter, which was insane to write, but worse to edit.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Scent of Fire

Loki stood over her, his shadow falling across her body as she slept. He reached forward with one of his icy hands and brushed away some of the strands of golden hair that had fallen onto her face. She had been one of the only people to ever befriend him as a child, and who loved him more than Thor. He stood there for several minutes, solemn and stoic like a statue, just standing over her. He looked smugly at her still form lying underneath the sharp emerald covers. She would soon enough be his. He turned to the side and began to walk down the few steps that led up to her bed, each step he took casting a blanket of darkness about the room as one by one the little, golden flamed candles went out, dropping like falling stars from a nighttime sky. Before he had reached the bottom, he paused mid-step, for a small noise caught his attention; a small, slippery silver, rippling noise. He looked about the blackened room, and saw one small candle still lit, a wavering gold flame, and beneath it, the sparkle of eerie moonlight flowing through the thin, off-white curtains, and reflecting off a liquid surface. As he silently slunk over to where the noise was coming from, the lone green candle grew steadily brighter as he drew nearer to the pool. He came up to the pool of water, the reflected moonlight casting a sickly glow upon his face. Looking into the depths of the silvery water; his reflection slithered into view. He looked at in for a moment, unmoving, and then placed a few fingers on his mouth. They were scarred*; just small dots really, but only around the edges of his thin lips. Not noticeable enough unless one looked very closely, but they were there. _Those scars they gave to me,_ thought Loki, his face distorting with venom, _that he gave to me. He had no right to silence me by force, and he will pay for that._ He closed his frigid green eyes, but that did not lessen the fact that hatred was coursing through every one of his veins. The dark eyes flicked open again, full of malice. _He will pay_. His smile spread with spite.

He turned on his heel, and began to walk out towards the door. As he did, there was a golden glow that lit up his body. When he reached it, the glow had faded, and in place of Loki stood Sigyn. But with darker, green eyes instead of spring green. He reached for the silver door handle and turned it, but before he left he gave one last look over to where Sigyn was sleeping.  
The last candle that was lit went out as soon as Loki closed the door, dropping with a splash into the crystal water beneath it, turning to ice as it hit. The last warmth of the golden glow it gave off finally dispersing into a cold nothingness. As Sigyn slept, the moonlight crept away from her bed; her face changing from peaceful to worried and became more restless.

*At the end of The Avengers they have a thing strapped around Loki's mouth. Well, in the myths he had his mouth sewn shut and I think that might possibly be what it could have been, or symbolized. Not saying it actually IS, but I am using my creative license here.

X X X

Loki walked down the long corridor that led from Sigyn's room to the banquet hall, the murmur of fading conversation becoming slowly more audible with each nearing step. With the noise, also came the after smell of the banquet. Sweat, mead, the ghastly perfume that those trying to be royalty wore; disgusting. He much preferred Sigyn smell, very simple. That of sweet flowers and a fair, gentle breeze. As he walked along, he passed a mirror and stopped. Looking into it, he saw Sigyn's face but the expression he wore made her look angry. He smoothed out his complexion, and tilted his head like Sigyn. She was known for being sweet and charming around the court, and if he were to act any differently people would begin to ask questions. _Sweet and charming...right_, thought Loki. He walked away from the mirror and down the flight of marble stairs. Many people passed him, leaving the Valholl, but one woman walked straight towards him. _No...No, no, no_, he bristled, _not her_. He kept walking, hoping she would pass him.  
Luck was not on his side, however, and Syn walked up to him. "What are you doing out?" asked the brown haired woman sharply. "I was told you were in bed." _If only I could turn her into a rat_, he thought bitterly.

"Well, I am sorry to disappoint," replied Loki, "I could not sleep, the banquet noises were too loud."  
"Yes, well, the banquet is over. I would advise you to go back to your chambers now," replied the woman curtly. Turning irately on her heel, she walked away from Loki, his dagger eyes following her as she barged away. He shook his head, how on _Asgard_ was Sigyn able to deal with people like that? He continued his walked through the master hall and up to the main door to the Valholl, but turned abruptly left up a flight of stairs.  
_It will be easier to go through the room if I can go where I am most likely to be unnoticed,_ he thought. When he reached the top of the stairs, he looked down the open passageway, making sure that he saw nobody whom Sigyn knew. He began to walk down it, staying close to the cold skirts of the wall so that no one downstairs could see him. But it was not close enough, for one pair of clear, blue eyes saw the blond haired figure slink through to the other side of the room. Loki finally exited from the Valholl, and began to walk more quickly to his destination: the Royal Archives. The corridor that lead down to it was completely empty, so he quickened his pace.

"Siggy!" came a loud, shaggy voice.  
Loki jumped. _Siggy?_ he thought, a disturbed expression spreading across his face. _Who's...? Oh. Crud._ If Loki could've disappeared at that moment, he would've.  
"Sigyn!" came the voice again, louder. "Did you not hear me? It's Theoric!" He turned around slowly.  
_Who the hell is Theoric?_ He questioned. When Loki had turned all the way around, he was suddenly enclosed in a bear hug by the hairiest, and worst smelling person that he had ever met. _Good lord!_ thought Loki as he was being squeezed. Definitely not a feeling he enjoyed. The larger, beefier man set the petite figure down. Loki tried hard not to grimace from the stench and lack of oxygen left in his lungs as he spoke.  
"Oh...um, Theoric. I...I didn't see you. You startled me," he said, trying to give him a believable smile. "Did you need something?" A stupid smile spread across the oaf's face.  
"Well-...now that you mention it..." he trailed off. The thought that was gracing through Theoric's mind suddenly crossed Loki's, but before he could jump backwards the large man scooped him up and planted at large, wet kiss on his lips. The candles that hung in the hall sputtered madly and a few went out as Loki's eyes nearly popped out of his skull; he quickly and harshly pushed away the thick bearded face away from his own. Theoric looked at (who he thought was Sigyn) with worried curiosity.  
"What is wrong, dear? Too soon before the wedding?"  
"What!" Loki squeaked.  
"Is it too soon?" Theoric asked again.  
"Oh...Yes. Yes it is. Sorry, but you know how I am sensitive towards things like this."  
"Right, I know. I just thought with it getting closer to the day that you might soften a little."  
"No, I'm afraid not." _Not ever._ "But later, on our special night." Loki cringed as he spoke those words. "Please set me down now, Theoric," he asked as sweetly as he could manage, and with what had just happened that was easier said than done. Gently, Theoric set him down on the cool alabaster floor.  
"Just tell me that you love me," said Theoric sincerely before Loki could turn around. Loki swallowed hard, as he looked into the large man's eyes. _Why me?_ he complained in his thoughts.  
Innocently, in Sigyn's voice, he spoke.  
"I..love you," he said quietly. Theoric smiled, but inside Loki felt sick to his stomach. Theoric bent down and gave him a small, scruffy peck on the cheek and walked away. Loki didn't respond. He just stood there, a _"That was the most ghastly, most disgusting thing that has ever happened to me"_ expression stuck on his face. His face relaxed as soon as he could no longer see Theoric, and he turned back around and even more hurriedly continued to the archives.  
He walked up to a large set of dark wooden doors, and quietly slipped through them.

Inside the room there were three enormous bookshelves that lined three of the four walls, and went from floor to ceiling. Each shelf was lined with books upon books, ranging from thin to thick, old to older, and simple to extravagant. He began to follow along one of the bookshelves, searching, as his finger traced where each book set. His hand shot forward and grabbed an incredibly old, thick, brown book with gold lettering on it. It read Rules of Succession in a large, flowing cursive. He opened it and began to look through a few of the pages. Closing it, and sticking it under his arm, he began to look again. He had just placed his hand on the second, more mysterious looking book when a voice spoke from behind him.  
"Sigyn," it came, very firmly. Loki's mouth hardened. It was Thor. "What are you doing up? I thought you had gone to bed." Loki turned his head to look at Thor, trying not to scowl.  
"I was in bed," he responded,"but I just had too much on my mind."  
"Loki?" asked Thor, walking up to him. He laid his hand on Loki's shoulder. Loki's heart skipped a beat, and he was silent. He looked at his brother's large hand, and was thankful that at that moment he looked like Sigyn.  
"Look at me," Thor commanded gently.  
"What?" asked Loki, not make eye contact with Thor.  
"You were thinking about Loki, weren't you?" Loki sighed.  
"You caught me, Thor." He gave a relieved smile that Sigyn frequently gave to all of the men in the court. "Yes, I was. I just can't stop thinking about him. I was hoping one of these old books would put me to sleep." He motioned to the book lined walls. "There's no harm in that, is there?" he asked meekly.  
"For you sweet lady, no. There is no crime that you could commit, except for abiding in the past." Thor smiled and wrapped his thick arm around the fake Sigyn, as she smiled weakly. "Please, stop thinking about Loki. It is grody for you to constantly think about him, and it is poisoning the time that you spend here with us." The last sentence made Loki's blood curdle. The scars on his lips began to burn with hate.  
"Thor," said Loki, slightly harsher, "I am going to leave back to my chambers now. If you will excuse me-..." He started to walk away from Thor's hold, but Thor caught his hand.  
"Won't you let me escort you to your chambers?" he asked.  
"No," said Loki coldly, as he yanked his hand out of Thor's. He was beginning to lose his patience. He relaxed his voice, but a trace of rancor could still be heard in it. "I am perfectly capable to find my own way back to my chambers. But thank you for your generous offer." And with that Loki turned and left, the two books in his grasp, leaving Thor alone in the archive room.

Thor's face hardened as he watched Sigyn leave the room. _That_ was _not_ Sigyn. Thor walked out of the room and quietly shut the door. Leaning his forehead up against it with his fist clenched, he stood there silent for a moment. Without warning, Thor angrily slammed his fist against the wooden door and let out a cry of distress. He took a few steps back, running his hand through his blond hair, and looked at the crack in the beautiful door. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, letting two silvery tears escape from them. "Oh Sigyn," he said grievously. He lifted his head and slowly walked away from the archives with deep sadness in his heart.

X X X

Loki walked up to Sigyn's door and slid inside to the welcoming blackness of her chambers as he changed form back to himself. Quickly, but covertly, he walked across the room, nearing the balcony entrance. He stopped short when he heard a small moan, however. Turning around, he saw Sigyn roll over in her bed and let out another troubled moan. He slowly walked up to the steps that lead up to her bed, and even more slowly walked up those. When he reached the top step, he stood at the end of her bed. Loki lingered in front of the moon. It gave off a watery silver silhouette of glow all around Loki, making his face appear black. His slowly opened his eyes; paler, wicked, glowing, green eyes. He looked down on her, the spark of malice never leaving them, his appearance almost growing blacker, the silver outline doing nothing to show any goodness within him. She softly moaned again.  
"N-..no...sto-p."

He just stood there, not doing anything to wake her from the nightmare he knew she was having. She was breathing heavily. Loki let his mind drift to Theoric, and what he had done and said. His face became hard, his eyes narrowed into daggers, and his mouth was turned down in bitterness at he stared at Sigyn. "Ughhh-," she sobbed, a few tears falling down her face as she slept.  
_Let her moan and cry of her nightmare,_ he thought, his face becoming more acrimonious. _She deserves it, just like the others. To be in pain, in fear...without hope. She does not deserve my love. She deser-...,_  
"Loki," Sigyn moaned his name desperately, a little louder than the others. There was a slight pause, and everything for a moment was still. "Hel-...help..me," she finished faintly. His complexion softened. His face becoming a lighter shade of black, his malicious eyes dimming. He bent over, and gradually, he let his hand slip under the silken covers to where her ankle was, and he placed it on her.  
A soft, warm, green glow could be seen through the covers, and slowly Sigyn stopped crying, stopped moaning, and her melancholy expression returned to tranquility. He gingerly pulled his hand back out from under the covers and stood up, his hardened expression finally falling away after seeing her peacefully asleep. He set the books down on the steps, and walking around to the edge of her bed, he rested one knee on it as he leaned over her. Slowly, softly, he leaned into her, letting her sweet-as-honey lips warm his cold ones as his stern hand grasped onto her silky one. He stayed there like that for a few moments, his lips press against hers, but at length he drew himself away. He picked up his books as he walked away from her, without looking back, and out onto the balcony. Looking up into the moons and stars, he suddenly threw both books far up into the sky, and in one fluid motion, jumped, turning into a great horned owl, and snatching the two books in the air in his tapered talons as he flew away into the waning night sky until he could no longer be seen.

X X X

Slowly, the heavens casted off its nightly robe and the sun broke over the horizon in colors of sweet, pale blue, gold, rose, and lavender. A morning dove, its pastel orange and tan feathers contrasting with the dawn sky, alighted on the branch of a tree below the veranda of Sigyn's room, and began its wonderful morning aria. The cool damp of early morning filled the air as the sun began to warm the silver, shining dew that rested upon everything, and a soft breeze blew into Sigyn's room, making the cool, green under curtains billow out, allowing the sun's shining rays to tenderly brush Sigyn's skin as she slept peacefully. One corner, however, the jovial golden-orange rays did not reach. The corner where the candle had fallen still stood dark and frozen.

Sigyn's eyes fluttered slowly open, and an endowed sigh escaped her lips. Gradually, she pulled herself from the warm, silken, beryl green coverlet and onto the cool, cream floor. She looked about the room, not seeing any signs that Loki had been there. _Could it've been a dream?_ She thought to herself. Walking calmly down the stairs that lead up to her bed, she noticed the basin of water that was in the floor, a candle inside the ice water. She stared at it for a moment with peaceful understanding in her eyes. _No, it was not a dream._ Finishing walking down the steps, she strolled her way out onto the veranda to watch the conclusion of the elegant sunrise. Standing on the edge of the balcony, she wrapped her arms around her waist and let the cool morning breeze blow through her golden hair. She closed her eyes at the tender touch of the wind on her bare skin, it reminded her of the time she and Loki had been together...before his fall. It was so beautiful, so peaceful, so pure. She let out a soft sigh, and opened her bright, spring green eyes to look upon the royal, morning beauty of the sun before it vanished into day. Steadily, it rose higher into the sky. The many shades of purple, orange, and pink slowly climaxing and then melting into one strong shade of sapphire blue. Letting out one last sigh as the morning finished it concerto of colors, she aimlessly walked back inside.  
Sigyn headed to the bathing room and started to fill the large bathtub with deliciously warm, clear water, throwing a few dashes of cloves, mint, and rosemary into it as she waited patiently for it to fill. Once it had adequately filled, she slipped off her nightgown and slid into the glowing, warm water, drinking in the heat and relief it gave her muscles and her mind.

After her bath, she grabbed a small book and headed down to the gardens to enjoy a light meal and to read. She was wearing a satin blue-gray dress that passed her knees by about two inches, and a pair of small pearly silver slippers. She left her hair down to dry. Dashing down the hall, she skipped down the steps, but when she had turned from them she ran immediately into Thor, and fell backwards onto the ground. She looked up at him, her hair falling into her face, laughing as she leaned back onto her palms. Thor looked at her, startled from the sudden impact, and then smiled in amusement as he reached his hand down to help her up. She gladly accepted his offer, and was soon standing back up on her own two feet, walking with Thor to the patio near the gardens.  
"Did you even move backwards when I ran into you?" asked Sigyn with humorous curiosity.  
"No," replied Thor, very absolute and with a wry grin. Sigyn swung herself in front of him as they kept walking.  
"No?" she asked, puzzled. "Just...no? Do I really make that little of an impact, Thor?" A sweet pixieish smile glowing on her face. Thor had always been like an older brother to her. He stopped walking and took her by the shoulders.  
"Sigyn, you make the biggest impact on all the people your life touches." He paused, his smile beginning to fade. _More than you realize,_ he thought. "But back there," he said, his mind returning from his thoughts and his smile reappearing. "Yes, you did not create much of an impact...physically anyways." Sigyn let out a soft laugh, as they walked on.  
"Sigyn," asked Thor a few moments after they had walked out onto the sunlit porch. "What were you doing last night?"  
"I was sleeping, Thor," she replied bemused. "Remember, I told you."  
"Mmm."  
"Mmm, what?"  
"Because, I remember seeing you in the Royal Archives..._after_ you had told me you were going to bed. You had said that you couldn't sleep, your mind drifting to Loki, and that reading some of the older books might help put you to sleep." Sigyn looked at him with concern.  
"Thor," she replied sincerely. "I never left my chambers after you departed. It couldn't have been me. It must've been someone else."  
"Mmm. Thank you Sigyn." Thor paused, pinching his lips together, his mind preoccupied by something else. "I must leave now." He bowed to her, turned away, and walked back inside. Sigyn stood there on the patio with a curious look on her face as her friend left. She walked over to the stairs and sat on the top step, thinking through what Thor had been saying. "_I remember seeing you in the Royal Archives...after you had told me you were going to bed. You had said that you couldn't sleep, your mind drifting to..."_ Once the thought hit her, she closed her eyes in unease. _Loki_, she thought, _you are such the trickster_. Troubled in her soul, she got up and went back inside to see about finding the god of Mischief.

X X X

Thor walked away from Sigyn. Finally knowing that it was Loki that he had seen last night, not Sigyn, he decided it was time to talk with his father about the matter. He walked into his All-Father's throne room, the Hlidskjalf, and saw him, hand on his head, looking down with a distressed look on his wrinkled face.  
"Father," Thor said loudly, "I wish to speak with you." Odin looked up at him as he walked up the stairs that lead to the golden cathedra.  
"What is it my son?" asked Odin. He sounded tired, and wasted. Thor knelt beside the throne and began to talk to him quietly.  
"Father, I wish I may speak to you in private. What I have to say is for no other ears but your own." Odin nodded his head and slowly got up from his chair. They entered into the chambers of Odin and his wife, Frigga, and Thor immediately shut the doors. Odin went over to the large, open balcony and looked out onto the realm of Asgard.

"Now, my son," began Odin, "What is it that troubles you so much that it must be told in secret?"  
"I have reason to believe that Loki has returned to Asgard." Odin turned his head to his son who had walked up beside him on the balcony.  
"What makes you think that your brother has returned?" he asked, concern nipping the edges of his words.  
"Last night," replied Thor, "I believe that I saw him. Well, not directly him, but I am fairly certain it was him."  
"Fairly certain?" asked Odin, now turning fully to face Thor. "You are only fairly certain?"  
"Father, no. I _am_ certain it was Loki." He licked his lips in frustration as he thought through his words. "Sigyn is here, as you well know, but when I saw her late last night...something was not right. First off, her eyes were much darker than the natural spring green that I know, and second, she was much colder in her speech. Now, you and I both know that she has always been kind and sweet, never curt or bitter, yet the feeling I got from her last evening was cold anger. The only person who I know to be like that is Loki. It was not Sigyn last night that I saw, but Loki who looked like her."  
Throughout Thor's speech, Odin had not moved a muscle, nor said a word. He looked back out to the golden city. Both gods were silent. A soft breeze blew through the room, making the white and gold curtains rustle slightly. Finally, Odin spoke. "Yes, there is a chill in the air...an all too familiar one." The two gods, the young and the old, just stood there, each in his own way pondering what had been spoken.

X X X

Loki took another sigh as he turned over and over again the pages of the blue book that he had grabbed the other night. He had already looked through the other one, The Rules of Succession, and knew that what ever he thought he intended to find in there was naught. Flipping through the pages he came to one that was labeled The Norn. He was about to commence reading it, when a small click perked his ears, and a soft, slightly cross voice came from behind.  
"I thought I would find you in here," it spoke. Loki turned around from his desk, and looked at Sigyn, watching her gently close the door. "You know, I just came from talking with Thor." She walked over to him, and he turned back to the book.  
"Really," he said, seemingly uninterested. He began to look over the page in hopes that Sigyn would see that he was busy, but nothing came of it.  
"And apparently _I_ was looking through the Royal Archives last night, because _I_ couldn't stop thinking about _you_." She rested her arms on his shoulders and wrapped them around him, laying her head near his ear. He closed his eyes in displeasure, clenching his jaw. She could be so...so...so slyly innocent sometimes, and that exasperated him..._considerably_...but isn't that why he loved her? Loki stood up, making sure he remembered the page number, brushed Sigyn off him, and walked over to his old bed, tossing the blue book onto the emerald covers with a puff of dust as the book landed on it. He turned back around to face Sigyn now that there was a gap between them. Her eyes were a fiery green when his own met with them.  
"Why did you do it, Loki?" she asked indignantly.  
"I must have really upset you for you to actually look angry," he said very blatantly. He walked up the stairs to the set of windows and sat down on the edge.  
"You did, and don't change the subject. Why did you do it, why did you go down the archives as me? Please, answer me truthfully."  
Loki looked hard out the window as if he was concentrating on something in the distance, trying to ignore the girl. Sigyn walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Loki, answer me," she repeated again, this time more fiercely. He stood up, towering over her, and grabbed savagely her hand that rested on him. He did not like the tone she was taking with him.

"I _did it_ because I needed_ that_ book," he said through clenched teeth as he pointed to the bed. "And _you_ had better _watch_ your tone."  
"You do _not_ scare me, Loki," she said, but it was so quiet that it seemed unconvincing. He glared at her, and after a few minutes, she finally dropped her eyes to the floor in defeat. He shoved her back to the wall, letting go of her as he walked away to the other side of the room.  
"You could've sent me to get it," she said after a few moments of delicate silence.  
"You were asleep," replied Loki coldly. "I didn't want to wake you."  
"I was only asleep because you made me," she mumbled to herself.  
"What was that?" asked Loki, turning around to face her again. Sigyn's eyes opened wide in shock and she let in a small gasp as she hadn't meant for him to hear that.  
"Oh, nothing Loki. I was just talking to myself."  
Loki let his let his gaze revert out the window. "I met Theoric," he said flatly. "We had an..._interesting_ conversation." Sigyn looked up at him, anxiety spreading across her face, she knew where this was headed, and she didn't like it one bit. She cleared her throat.  
"Mm, did you now?"  
"Yes. I did." Loki paused before walking towards her. "And I found out some _interesting_ information when I talked with him." He came up to and leaned coolly over Sigyn, placing two hands on the wall behind her, trapping her in front of him. His nonchalant attitude was creating a dangerous atmosphere in the room. Sigyn looked down to the side as Loki tried to peer into her eyes with his emerald ones. "Tell me, _are_ you engaged to be married to that man?" Sigyn did not respond. "Look at me, Sigyn." She let her eyes look up at him for an instance, but then flick away. "That is _not_ what I _meant_." He grabbed her face and forced her to look at him. He voice began to raise. "Are. You. Marrying. Him!"  
Sigyn took hold of his hand that was holding her face and covered her eyes with it as she sobbed into his warm palm. His eyes turned stony as he let go of her face and slowly stood back away from her.

"So...you _didn't_ love me enough to wait."  
"No, no Loki. No, that's not how it was at all," she began to speak quickly, her scared expression turning into distressed as the tears began to brim on her eyelids. "The only reason why I accepted Theoric's proposal was because you and I-...we had lost contact while I was in Vanaheim..." she paused in her speech. "I-...I had begun to give up on ever seeing you again," she finished weakly.  
"What?" asked Loki with dark, angered curiosity.  
"Loki, I do love you. I really do." She walked up to him and held his hands. "I-...I just..." She bowed her head.  
"When are you to be wed?" he asked darkly. Sigyn swallowed.  
"In three weeks." She held him in a hug, but he did not return it. "I'm sorry, Loki," she said into his chest. "I would've waited if I had-..."  
"Get out." Sigyn looked up at him, opening her mouth as if to say something else, but he glowered down at her. "Get. Out." Sigyn back away from him, her face filled with shame and sorrow, her eyes beginning to shine with tears. She exited the room without saying another word.

After she had left, Loki grabbed the book off his bed and sat down at his desk. He pinched the bridge of his nose. _Why on Asgard had she decided to wed that stupid, teddy bear?_ He had to figure out how to get rid of Theoric. But how would he do it without making it look like he murdered him? Earlier in the day he had heard a few of the servants around the hall talking about trouble on Asgard's border with a few giants. Nothing too nasty, but definitely a problem if they got too far. The Enchantress was already down there using her magic to keep them at bay until the Crimson Hawks showed up. Theoric was part of the Crimson Hawks. What if..._What if he had an unfortunate accident?_ thought Loki, a smirk coming to his face. Everyone knew that the job of a personal guard of Odin is dangerous, they could be sent out on any mission. He knew how to get rid of that oaf. _And since I will be down there, I could see about getting Amora's help with locating these_, he continued. He looked at the page that read The Norn, and near the bottom were three small painting of three orange stones. He looked at it with a sly grin spreading across his face. Things would soon be falling into place, it was just a matter of time.

X X X

It was still dark when he left the palace. The four moons that hung in the sky gave off an unhealthy glow as a hooded traveler dressed in black moved swiftly through the shadows of the trees. He spotted an Asgardian sentry riding a chestnut colored winged horse. Suddenly, the figure leaped in front of it and gave a shout, making the animal rear onto its hind legs and scream a horses scream. The rider fell off onto the hard cobblestone road, and his helmeted head hit the ground with a sickening smack. Quickly, Loki, for it was he, sprung onto the winged horse's back and rode off into the night, leaving the unconscious guard for dead. As the horse galloped away it started to unfurl its wings, and with a jump, lifted into the night sky. The higher up they went, the colder it became, and the darker it got until he was no longer in sight of the glowing palace. There was a thin layer of fog that danced and twirled around him as the horse beat its wings in the black sky. As he traveled he began to see in the distance a change in the landscape. Where it had once been green with forest it was now turning into rockier terrain, with browner, more languid trees.

The hours passed by slowly as they flew along, eventually the fog becoming so thick that Loki had to force his mount to descend down to a lower atmosphere where the odds of being seen were dangerously high. He could see the far-off lights of the tavern glowing dimly through the swirling mist. That would be where Amora would be found. As the glint of warm light from the lodge neared, however, he was startled from his thoughts as a volley of arrows and large stones began to whistle through the air, and the horse let out a bray. "Steady boy," he whispered soothingly to it, as he rested a glowing green hand on its neck. The horses eyes dilated and changed to a calm fierceness. More arrows and stones were flying through the air now, and Loki looked down to see where the projectiles were coming from, spotting several giants. He narrowed his eyes, _disgusting creatures_, he thought, and his hand began to glow angrily. He let fly out of his hand a bright flash of light, just as an arrow brushed passed his ear. The bolt of light hit the land below, causing it to burst into green flame. That was too close, he thought. Many more arrows and boulders were slung his way and he was able to successfully dodge most of them, but one bolder hit his steed in the right wing. Loki heard the bones crack, and the horse screamed. It tried to stay in the air, but eventually it gave up in exhaustion, tumbling through the air to the ground.

Before the beautiful creature hit the earth Loki jumped off its back to avoid the death that awaited it. After hitting the earth and rolling through the rocks and weeds, he looked up and saw several wickedly glowing, red-gold eyes; the giants. "_That_ could've gone better," he grumbled.  
"_None_ are allowed passage through these lands," came a deep, jagged voice from within the blackness of the trees. Loki picked himself up off the ground, and dusted himself off.  
"Even one with such _valuable_ information that would work to your aid?" he asked in a wheedling tone. "Surely, you would be willing to compromise for one to pass through for the sake of winning this...skirmish." There was silence from the woods around him.  
"What is it that we would want from you, Asgardian?" it came again, acid dripping from his voice.  
"Information from the All-Father concerning the Crimson Hawks which are being sent here to annihilate you." He paused, and smirked. "They will be coming along the northern ridge e'er the sun rises." He pointed to the mountain range where one of the four moons was nearing. Silence emanated from the forest.  
"And in return for this, what do you want?" the voice finally spoke.  
"All this _humble_ traveler wants is safe travel to the tavern on the hill in the distance."  
"How can we trust what you say?" the beast grunted.  
"You have my word, for I am Loki Laufeyson." As he said this he gave a mocking bow to the direction the voice came from. The creature who had been speaking stepped into the moonlight. Wearing a pair of beige, dirty, hole filled britches and a thick, brown, leather vest, the creature towered far above Loki. His skin was grimy yellow, covered with black and white pock marks, and his hair was slimy, seaweed brown. The only part of this creatures that would be considered beautiful were his fiery red-gold eyes.  
"Your name means_ nothing_ to us," spat the giant.  
"Do we have a deal?" asked the god, a wicked smirk spreading across his face. The giants eyes narrowed slightly, and there was a long pause before he answered.  
"Go on your way," he replied curtly as he turned to leave. "But hurry 'lest I change my mind and let my warriors slaughter your _puny_, white body."  
"You are too kind your giantness. But...before I go-." The giant turned back to look at him, his eyes flaming brighter with malice. "Make sure that you kill the warrior named Theoric," Loki finished poisonously, a wicked smile tugging at the corners of his lips. The beast grinned back, a pointed, yellow toothed grin.  
"_You_ had better hurry or else _he_ will not be the only one we kill." Loki's brow furrowed, an ominous feeling knotting the muscles of his stomach, and a chill resting on the back of his neck. He turned around and hastily made his way through the woods as the demonic, glowing eyes of the giants followed him, sending shivers down his spine.

X X X

Within the thick wooden walls of the tavern, Amora sat in a dark corner next to the warm hearth, drinking in the heat of the fire and indulging herself with a silky purple wine. She set her metal and glass goblet down on the table. A dark cloaked figure entered through the doorway of the tavern, bringing in with him the shadows of the dead night. She watched him as he made his way over to the counter and talked to the bartender. The chubby man pointed a thick finger in her direction, and the black hooded figure followed it with his gaze. She gave them both an icy stare. The dark clothed man walked over to her table and sat down in front of her.  
"Are you Amora the Enchantress?" he asked slowly, leaning forward as he spoke.  
"Yes," she replied roughly, "And who are you?" The man just smiled a white smile and lifted his head into the light the fire cast, pulling back his hood ever so slightly. "Loki," she breathed. She looked around to make sure no one heard her, and then back at Loki. "What are you doing here. I thought you were-.."  
"In prison? Yes, I was," he interrupted. "But enough with the formalities. You remember when I was training under you that we had discussed the Norn Stones?"

"Yes," she replied. "We had looked throughout the nine realms to locate a certain book that held information on them."  
"Your memory serves you well." Loki reach into a bag that was at his side and drew out the indigo, leather bound book, opening it to the page that contained the information needed. "We never got the chance to look through it because Father, the wise being that he is, took it and locked it away in the Royal Archives, which neither of us were allowed to go visit afterwards." Amora took the book and eagerly scanned its crisp, tan pages.  
Then looking up at Loki's sly face, she asked, "Why do you bring this to me now?" Loki's smile grew, and he lowered his voice to a dark whisper.  
"I am looking to find the Norn Stones, but I will need help." Amora frowned slightly. "I'm sure you are too busy, however," he continued a little louder, "with the giants here to bother helping an old student." He absentmindedly took the book away from her and stood up. Amora quickly laid her hand on the book before he could put it away.  
"I will help you Loki, but I want something in return," she said. Loki raised an eyebrow at her demand.  
"And what would that be?" he asked smugly.  
"You."  
Loki and Amora stared at one another for a moment, Loki's face unwavering, and Amora's curling into a sick smile. "Alright," lied Loki, a simper glazing his lips. "Then let's begin." He placed the book back down on the table and they began to study.

-END CHAPTER 2-

Yea! End of chapter two. I am working on refining the plot for chapter three right now, so I don't know when that one will be up. The next one or two chapters are going to be about Loki and Amora finding the Norn Stones, so we won't be seeing Sigyn for a little bit. The info in this chapter (if slightly boring) is needed, but plot will be ramping up from here on out, so bare with me. Hope you guys enjoyed this, I know I did. Reviews for this a great to read and greatly appreciated, so if you guys would kindly do that it would be awesome.

Thanks!

-Kipp


	4. Chapter 3: A Place of Ashes

Yea! Chapter three is finally up! Life decided that it would be funny to give me writers block for four days. Finally got passed it after watching the Avengers for the third time. Anywho, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Also, I must thank my Beta, Indigoxsoul.

-Kipp

Chapter 3: A Place of Ashes

"An unstable warrior exists in this place.

Together dumb creatures can make him grow bright.

And enemies can use him against one another.

His strength is fierce but a woman can tame him.

Meekly he'll serve every and any person

As long as they know the trick of sustention.

He makes many happy, he makes their lives better.

But if let grown proud

He will turn against them.

If you know what I am then go to the place

Where I live in abundance.

There you will find the gem that you seek."

Amora looked at the page, a puzzled expression on her face as she read through the riddle. Loki stood in solitude by a window, one arm folded across his chest, the other with his hand resting on his chin as he looked through the glass to the forest.  
"Let's take this one verse at a time," he said, "Read the first one again." They had been at this for almost a half an hour now, and each were becoming vastly irritated with the difficulty that it provided. Amora glared at Loki.  
"An unstable warrior exists in this place. Together dumb creatures can make him grow bright. And enemies can use him against one another." She looked up at Loki who was now pacing.  
"Unstable," he mumbled to himself, his hand rubbing his forehead. "Dumb creatures...can make him grow..bright." He turned and faced at Amora. "What is unstable but bright, and that simple creatures can use?"  
"Well, there's light?" she replied acerbically. Loki's expression faltered, a vexed look spreading across face.  
"You cannot _control_ light," he retorted, irked at her thoughtless answer. "It's. _Not_. Possible." Continuing his pacing, he was silent for several minutes. "Not unless it's-..." Loki paused, a smug smile of realization spreading across his face.  
"What?"  
"Unless it's _fire,_" he stated as if it were common knowledge. "And-.."  
"-And the _only _place where fire is in abundance is Muspelheim," continued Amora, following Loki's train of thought before he could finish. He threw a stiff glare at her, but she continued. "But before we leave, there are a few things that must be prepared then. Muspelheim is a dangerous place, and virtually uninhabitable." He walked over and grabbed the book from her, still scowling at being interrupted. He began to flip through its pages. Finding the one he wanted, he set the book back on the table and turned it to Amora.

"Look," he said as he pointed to a picture on the page. It was a man, but not a normal man. Its skin was charred black and cracked, and from within the cracks bled an amber glow. "These creatures, the fire-etin, live here, and if we are to navigate this realm then we need protection. Not only from these abominations, but from the eternal flame on that planet, the goliks, the sons of Surtur, and from Surtur himself if we inadvertently happen to run into him."  
"What if the stone is not located in the habitable parts of the planet?" asked Amora skeptically. "No person, not even the sons of Surtur can live away from the borders. How then are we to get to it?"  
"You have your charms and spells, as do I. They will last for only a little while, yes, but they should last long enough for us to travel and acquire the stone."  
"What about getting back after we've gotten the stone? If the spells only last long enough for us to get _to_ the stone, how are we to salvage our skin on the _return_?"  
"Who said anything about going back to where we started from?" Loki said with a smirk. Amora's confused eyes searched his face for an answer, but found nothing.  
"Then, how-..."  
"With a portal," he interrupted. He walked away from the table, maliciously chuckling to himself. "You've grown slow, Amora." Turning back to her, he gave her a provoking leer. "Maybe-...I was wrong to come to you for help."

Amora shot up from her seat and walked over to Loki, looking into his face with an inflamed expression as she pointed a finger at him.  
"Do _not_ patronize me, Loki," she replied, greatly miffed at his altercation. "I am _fully_ capable of understanding what is going on, and you know full well that I am one of the _only_ sorcerers in this realm that can conjure a portal _without_ demolishing half a town, _and_ one that will actually send us to the correct place...unlike _you_." Loki gave her a scowl.  
"_That _one was an accident. It wasn't even a proper village, and I did get home."  
"Eventually, yes, you did. But how many portals did that take? Eight? Eight of the nine realms? The only one you missed was Helheim."  
"I was only thirteen," he replied.  
"And you expect age to justify your rash decisions? Loki-..." She shook her head. "You have not changed at all, and I am not sure if that is for the better." Loki's face turned hard and stony, his pupils narrowing down to pinpricks. There was a moment of harsh silence as student and mentor locked eyes with one another.  
"We will need salves of healing herbs, preferably Sempervivum," Loki finally said, his words cold and sharp. "Make sure that they are imbued with the Berkana rune. I will gather the waters of Isa." He turned to leave, but before he left, Amora called to him.  
"Loki, how do you plan on dealing with the fire?"  
"You're intelligent," he responded, a cruel smirk growing on his face. "Impress me." With that, Loki left the tavern, leaving Amora to stand in the middle of the empty room fuming. She threw her hands up into the air and let out a frustrated squawk as she stormed out to find the materials.

X X X

It was night before either sorcerer was ready to begin the journey. The stars shone brightly as Amora and Loki walked through the woods, surrounded by massive pines on either side. They had each gathered what was required for the excursion; Loki, the waters of Isa, and Amora, the healing ointments and Algiz runes to protect them and their supplies from incineration. Before they had left, they had marked their clothing, bodies, and provisions with these runes to ensure survival throughout this venture.  
The trees that surrounded them on either side reached far up into the cold night sky. The moons' dazzling rays were unable to truly pierce the thick foliage that loomed over the land beneath, covering it in a black shroud.  
Loki and Amora were standing near two incredibly gigantic trees that were parallel to one another by about eight feet. Amora, her eyes squinting in concentration, was holding out her hands while blue and purple flashes of fulmination exploded from them to the center of the space between the two trees. Loki stood behind her, carefully watching and listening to what she was doing and saying.  
"You are sure we carry enough supplies, Loki?" whispered Amora breathlessly, her arms quivering with fatigue, the feeling of a thousand sparks burning her flesh.  
"Do I detect a hint of distrust?" he asked, his eyebrow raised, and a hint of disdain lingering on the edge of his voice.  
"Loki," replied Amora irritatedly, sweat beginning to drip from her brow. "Do not anger me, I _must _concentrate." The flashes of light were flowing more fluently from her hands now, beginning to create a small corona between the pines. Suddenly, streak of white light flew from the edge of the portal and hit one of the large, thick-trunk tree behind them. There was a loud crack and moan as it began to break and fall, and for a moment, it blocked out the moonlight, shrouding Amora in sudden, dangerous darkness as its shadow swooped nearer.

"Catch it!" she shouted panic-stricken, not taking her eyes off the portal she was creating. Loki turned around to the creaking, falling lumber, and raised his hands into the air, clenching his fists. "Nothing must disturb the process," Amora whispered into the air, focusing back on the portal. A faint glow lit up the bark of the tree and it stopped falling, hanging dangerously in midair above Amora. He let out a grunt and his arms began to shake as the weight of the it grew heavier with each passing second. Looking to one side, he heaved the tree over towards the others, nearly vaporizing them to splinters as it struck them with a ear-deafening crack. When he looked back to Amora, she was doubled over gasping for breath. But in front of her was the portal, the edges of it flashing triumphantly in a bright cerulean and pomegranate, and on the other side was the land of eternal fire, Muspelheim. The wakes of heat that came from it seared the grass around the portal, turning it into a smoldering, pungent, black. Loki walked past her, up to the entrance of the gateway, and looked into the hellish realm. He glanced back at Amora, giving her a wry grin, and stepped through to the other side.  
It was a land of burning, stinking rock; the surface appearing to ooze lava out of every crevice, out of every cranny. Loki immediately reeled backwards in pain from the shock of heat that blasted against his cool skin. He was unused to such high temperatures. Amora advanced through the portal behind Loki, and stood in awe of the blistering landscape. She walked up to him and rested a hand on his shoulder.  
"Are you alright?" she asked uneasily. Loki brushed her hand off him.  
"Yes, yes, I'm fine. It's just slightly warmer than I'm used to, that's all." He began to walk towards the crimson mountains in the distance. "Come," he shouted over his shoulder, "Wherever the people who live here on his ungodly planet are, they, out of everyone, will know something about the location of the Norn Stone."  
Amora hurried to catch up with him as he walked off, leaving her behind. As they left, the portal behind them closed, sending a shock wave of blue energy rippling across the red, burning wasteland.

X X X

It had been about three hours since they had come through the portal into Muspelheim, and it was akin to being in Hel. They had had to be careful not to be seen by the fire-etins, 'lest they wanted to be eaten by them, and had managed to bypass the fire bogs for the most part. The toxic fumes that burst and bubbled from the ground beneath them made both Amora and Loki feel nauseous, and the heat nearly made Loki collapse once, but they continued their trek. As they passed a large, black rock, Loki heard a deep guttural, purring noise that sounded like the rattle of chain mail. Quickly, he grabbed Amora by the wrist and pulled her up against him as they hid behind the boulder.  
"Loki, what're you-..."  
"Shhhh," he whispered forcibly in her ear. Before Amora could protest further, an enormous, metallic brown lizard creeped by, its belly glowing red from lava, its tongue flicking in and out of its sharp toothed mouth, tasting the malodorous air; its razor like claws making a sickening scrape as it dragged its paws along the scorched earth, and its poisonous saliva dripping from its jaws, making a sizzling noise as it hit the ground. A golik.

For what seemed like hours, Loki and Amora stood there against each other behind the black slag, neither moving nor daring to hardly breath for fear that the monster would turn on them.  
After it had finally passed and was no longer in sight, Loki let go of Amora. He pulled from his side a leather flask that glowed slightly blue around the edges and took a drink, but made a face once the lukewarm, revolting liquid touched his tongue.  
"The water's getting warm and bitter," he remarked. He handed Amora the drink. "We need to hurry before the Isa charm wears off and the water becomes rancid." He looked around at the vast, burning landscape, trying to see through the hazy, rust colored gas that polluted the air. "There are some twig like trees in that direction." Loki pointed off a little ways in the distance towards a row of menacing mountains, stained scarlet and copper from the bleeding magma. Beneath them, were tall, charred trees with branches that looked like disjointed fingers, all knobbly, crude, and lurid. "The sons of Surtur will most likely be where there are plants."  
He resituated the bag that held the book onto his back. Amora walked up to him. "Wait," she said as she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are we prepared to meet them? Liars, thieves, murderers, betrayers..."  
Loki grunted a laugh. "Sounds like home." He walked away from Amora, towards the line of trees in the distance.  
As they neared the sickly, twisted trees, they came upon a field of black boulders that rose from the ground like tombstones. Loki's ears perked. From beyond the mass of stones, came the noises of yelling, and arguing.  
They came up to one of the ebony, glass rocks and peered around its edges, trying to see what the commotion was. A dozen squalid men stood in a circle, surrounding a smaller, more sickly looking man with wild, frizzled, brown hair, his shrill, nasally voice rising high above the others.  
"I seen it!" he shouted at the those surrounding him. "I really have!"  
"Sure you have, Ratri," replied a taller, more brutish-looking man mockingly. "We all here believe you." He motioned to the crowd of men surrounding him. He leaned in closer to Ratri, hoisting him up to his face by his thin, sooty shirt. "No one ever believes you," he snarled, "And you know why? Because you are a liar, and you enjoy hurting those around you by it." Ratri spat into his face.  
"Like that means much from you!" he squawked, "You who are a murdering scoundrel! I have seen the stone, one glowing brighter than the rest. You must believe me!" The other man threw him against the rock as he cleared his eyes of Ratri's saliva. Loki and Amora could hear his head hit its sides with a sickening thump.

"No one can see it," retorted the gruffer man as he glared virulently at Ratri. "It is guarded by the pestilence of this planet!" The other grubby looking men nodded in agreement, and soon began to disperse as Ratri crumpled into a heap on the ground and let out a whimper, clutching his head.  
After everyone had left, Amora came out from behind the rock and went over to Ratri, followed slowly by Loki. She lifted the whimpering man, and set his back against the mass of earth. He looked at her in shock when she place her hand over his face, creating a yellow glow as she softly spoke. Suddenly, he leaped up.  
"Witch! Witch!" he screamed, his eyes growing to the size of saucers as he shied away. Snarling at her, he tried to run, but Loki stepped in front of him, blocking his escape as he gave him an icy-cold death glare. Ratri looked up at the being in front of him, panic in his eyes. He cowered away closer to the rock, realizing that running away was pointless. Amora walked gently over to him and placed a firm hand on his grubby shoulder.  
"What is your name?" she asked, purring ever so softly. He looked up at her shyly. Loki just kept his frigid stare locked on the puny, pale man.  
"Ratri," he replied in a puerile manner.  
"Ratri, we need you to tell us about the stone you saw. The one that you said was brighter than all others." Ratri looked up at her, a crafty smile spreading across his face to show several pointed teeth. Amora stepped slightly back in alarm. As the man's smile grew wider, Loki's glare became glacial.  
"You wanna know where's the stone is?" he asked in a tantalizing manner as he took a step towards Amora.  
"Yes," answered Loki sharply for her. Ratri shot him a spiteful scowl.  
"The stone glows like the lava rocks, but tons brighter," he said when he looked back to Amora. Loki's eyes narrowed. "But you'll never find it. It's up high, but down low. Inside, but not quite." Amora gave a puzzled look when the Ratri spoke.  
"What does that mean?" she asked him. He flashed another dirty grin.  
"Everything!" laughed the man maniacally, as he started to dance around. Amora grabbed him by his shoulders again, this time with both hands, forcing him to face her.  
"Where is this stone you speak of? Is it some place high?"  
"Oh no, very low. Very, _very_ low."  
"It is underground then."  
"No, no, _no_, it is high! _Much_ higher than that," he laughed. Loki was growing more frustrated as the man spoke.  
"Well, is it somewhere exceedingly dry?"  
"Oh _no_, no, no, no, no. It is someplace hot and wet. Very, _very_-..."

"Enough!" shouted Loki. He pushed Amora to the side, almost making her fall over as he advanced over to the short man. Towering above the runt, he slammed him up against the rock as he spoke to him. "Listen to me you lying, sniveling, asinine, little bastard!" he yelled furiously into his face. "You will tell us where that stone is right now or I will _rip_ your throat out and have you bleed and _suffer _until you become nearly insensible, and then _one_ by _one_ I will tear your fingers from your hands and listen to you _howl_ and gurgle on your own _blood_!" He paused as he watched the trepidation grow on the small man's face. "And if you _lie_," he continued venomously, his voice becoming ominously quiet as he grabbed the man's throat and began to squeeze. "I _will_ find you and will very, _very_ slowly lower you into the boiling, red lava, listening to you _scream_ as your flesh melts off your _bones_." Loki held him by his throat still, up against the rock. The small man's face and eyes became red from lack of oxygen as he made small, desperate gasping noises.  
"_Loki_," said Amora arduously, "Let him go!" Loki looked at her, a cold-blooded gleam emanating from his eyes. She marched up to him and grabbed the arm that held Ratri up against the stone, and yanked on it. Ratri fell to the ground coughing madly, fighting for air as he groped along the black, ashen ground. Loki turned on Amora and backhanded her across the face. Stiffly, she turned around and looked Loki in his dark, emerald eyes, her face flushed with animosity, and his with disdain. Both just stared at each other for a moment, neither willing to speak, but soon Amora turned back to the sputtering Ratri and knelt down to him.  
"Will you tell us where the stone is?" Ratri nodded quickly, still coughing roughly. He pointed towards a mountain in the distance that had double peaks and that sent smoldering, black ash into the burnt orange sky.  
"It is near there where Surtur's pets guard it," he said hoarsely as he rubbed his throat where Loki had been squeezing, the red marks still visible. "In the center of the Naglfari, above the liquid flame, but you won't escape with your precious gem...alive anyways." This last part he said as he looked at Loki, malevolence dripping off his words. Loki gave him a malicious half smile as his eyes narrowed.

Amora, satisfied with the answer, stood and began to walk away in the direction of the billowing, ashen smog. Loki started to follow behind her, but turned to Ratri, grabbing him by the hair of his scalp and forcing his head to the side, causing him to squeal. Loki pulled out a vial of green poison with two gleaming, prongs like serpent fangs, and thrust it deep into his jugular. Ratri's cry hitched in his throat as he felt the metal cut through the flesh of his neck. Loki held him up and whispered conceitedly into his ear.  
"This is so you won't tell daddy. If the poison doesn't kill you first, you will bleed to death with every _vein _in your body burning with ice as you slowly slip from one hell to the next." He let go of Ratri harshly, letting him slump to the ground. The small man's eyes were already glazed over, and Loki could see a mirror image of the landscape in them. All the veins on his body became visibly blue while his face turned stark white. Loki turned and walked away from the dying man as he headed towards his purpose.

X X X

As they continued their trek across the broiling, black desert, Loki leisurely flipped through the pages of the blue, leather bound book, every once in awhile looking up to avoid holes in the ground that were bubbling with lava. He ignored the glares shot at him when occasionally he would glance back at Amora. She walked silently behind him, still aggravated that he had had the gall to strike her. Maybe it had been a mistake to help him, to go along with his plan.  
Loki looked up from his reading to swerve around a rather large gulf of lava. He passed it without giving it a second thought, but then swiftly turned back around, noticing two shining, black eyes peering at them from the surface of the burning liquid, the golden irises narrowing. Amora was still behind him, but in front of the pit now, still walking as slowly as ever. Loki's eyebrows scrunched, then he turned quickly and continued trudging along, glancing back every few minutes suspiciously to make sure the creature wasn't advancing. The fifth time he glanced back he could no longer see the eyes. They had moved. Loki turned fully around, now walking backwards as he scanned the background for any sudden movement. A ripple in the lava caught his eye and he stopped short, standing completely frozen as he concentrated on the pool of magma that was now behind Amora, eyes narrowing.  
Slowly, steadily, the golik's head emerged from the dross. It swiveled around and locked its black and gold eyes with Loki's paling green ones, its mouth opening, letting fall a large drop of poison. It hit the ground with a sizzling hiss as it dissolved the ashen turf. Amora stopped walking once she had noticed Loki's odd behavior. His eyes flicked away from the mesmerizing gaze of the lizard to Amora.  
"We need to hurry," he said tightly. Amora stopped ambling and stood, resting all her weight on one leg.  
"No."

The golik began to quietly drag itself out of the pit of boiling magma, it's skin glowing red from heat.  
"No, we _need _to hurry," he replied earnestly.  
"No, _we_ don't. _You_ do."  
"I need your help on this."  
"Oh, really?" she replied in condescending tone. "Then apologize."  
The lizard began to walk up to them. Loki's eyes widened.  
Amora blinked, then rolled her eyes and looked at him strangely. "What _is _your problem?"  
Loki snapped out of his trance. "We just need to move, _now_."  
"I _won't_ move from this spot unti-..." Amora sucked in a breath. From behind her a burning heat settled on the back of her neck, and she felt a smooth, wet flick graze her nape. She gulped and hastily turned round, opening her mouth in shock as she saw the monster that was behind her. A deep, guttural noise ricocheted out of the back of its thick throat.  
"_Don't_ make _any_ sudden moves," whispered Loki slowly as he beckoned her to him. "Just slowly walk towards me." She backed up into Loki's grasp.  
"Has that thing been there the entire time?"  
"Yes," he hissed irately. The beast began to crawl its way towards them, one step at a time  
"And you didn't _tell_ me!" she whispered frantically. It stood above them, looking down on their pale faces.  
"You want to argue about this _now_?"  
Amora looked up at the golik, and then back at Loki. "Uh...for a minute...you know what, we should run."  
"Agreed." They both turned and darted behind one of the boulders. The golik gave out a hissing screech and chased after them. Loki turned to the left to go towards another larger rock, expecting Amora to follow him, but she went in the opposite direction.  
"No!" he shouted. "What are you doing!" Amora turned to him, her eyes wide with fear as were his. The giant lizard rounded the bend, its magmortimus body slamming into some of the rocks as it tried to turn. Loki was thrown to the ground as one of the chunks of volcanic slag hit his head.  
"Loki!" exclaimed Amora. She ran over to him, almost bitten by the golik's poison-dripping teeth. She grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled him up.

"We need a plan."  
"Working on it," he grunted as he dusted himself off. He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her behind another boulder as the golik passed them, searching for its prey.  
"Something has to distract it to give us enough time to escape," he said, breathing hard  
Amora thought quickly, "I can...fire some magic into the lava pool, causing it to erupt."  
Loki shook his head vigorously, "Takes too much energy. It needs to be something simple."  
"What then?" Loki thought for a moment.  
"Me," he said to himself almost in realization.  
"Um, that's not going to work, Loki. Remember, you want to _stay_ alive."  
"No, no that's not what I meant. _You_ and _I_ can distract him and-"  
"That not any better."  
"Would you stop interrupting me! We will use projections of ourselves to surround it. It's a dumb, witless animal. It won't know the difference between-...DUCK!" Loki pushed Amora away from him as he dove to the ground to avoid the liquid projectile that was spewed at them. The fizzing acid hit the rock, dissolving a hole through it. The golik glared down at them, running its tongue around its dripping mouth. Loki scrambled up and ran behind another gargantuan stone, followed quickly by Amora. "I need to you distract it," he said as he grabbed onto her shoulders, shaking her slightly.  
"What! Why me?"  
"Because I can create more projections than you...and at the moment we need a _lot_." They stopped speaking as they heard the hiss of the golik near. "...-it won't be for very long."  
"But Lo-.." He didn't let her finish, but instead pushed her out into the open, in front of the dragon. Amora squeaked in surprise and terror, and froze, looking into the burning eyes of the golik.  
"Run!" Loki shouted at Amora. She did not need the encouragement. "Useless female," he muttered after she had left. Beginning to create projections of himself and Amora, they popped into placed around the golik, and the creature looked around, growling frustrated and confused. Amora collapsed with fatigue, but was caught by Loki before she hit the ground.  
"Told you it would work," he said a matter-of-factly. She only glared at him. "Come on, let's leave before the creatures figures out that those are not real." Finally escaping the clutches of the golik, they ran towards their destination, leaving the roaring and frustrated beast behind.

X X X

Loki and Amora continued to walk in deathly silence. She was angry at him...no _furious_. He had forced her to be the bait for the stupid creature. He had not changed from being that selfish brat she had trained all those years ago. She huffed and shook her head to clear her thoughts; she had more important things to do than _sulk_.  
Loki pulled out the book again, opening it to a chart.  
"What does the book say about Muspelheim?" she asked as she looked over his shoulder, finally relieving the tension that had been building with each step.  
"Here is a map of Muspelheim," said Loki, showing Amora the page at which he was looking. "The place where that runt pointed us to is here." He rested his finger over the symbol of a mountain, and next to it was the mark of a castle.  
"What is that place?" she asked him. Loki looked away from the book to the distance ahead of him.  
"Well, I assume...it would be that." He pointed towards the two peaked mountain, but the peaks did not belong to it. Inset into the sides was a fortress hewn out of the very rock. The mountain itself loomed far up into the ashen sky. The body of the building, at least what they could see of it, was an onyx black, shimmering slightly red from the planet's boiling glow, making it appear as if it were dripping blood. The entrance into the fortress was halfway up the steep slope. It was like a gaping mouth, a scorching darkness trickling out from edges, filling any onlooker's being with cold dread. The sharp pointed designs of the gateway looked like black fangs, waiting to consume those who dared to enter it.  
From the sides of the mountain protruded two piers, one slightly higher than the other, their pinnacles as sharp as daggers cutting through the billowing smog. Loki flashed a subtle grin as he looked over at Amora. They began to climb up the steep slope of the mountain, almost having to pull themselves up its ashen sides. Once they finally reached the doorway, they turned and looked out at the vast lava bed beneath them. They could see it smoldering and glowing, the emaciated trees (if they could even be called trees) extending away from the ground trying to get away from the volatile miasma, and beyond that the jasper horizon. Neither knew what time it was because the greasy gloom that occluded the sky, hiding the moon, stars, and sun.

Loki was the first to enter the black pit. Amora followed him, pausing to glance back over her shoulder to scan the molten landscape, making sure that they were not followed by any unwelcome eyes. Slowly, she too slipped into the shadows of the passageway. Once they had entered a good ways, the light from the outside disappeared and they were left in murkiness of the tunnel.  
"Kenaz dagaz," whispered Loki in the darkness as he twisted his hands above one another in one fluid motion. A small sphere with a pale, green glow floated tenderly above Loki's hand, and lit up their white faces, showing the soot and grime of sweat.  
"Where are we?" asked Amora airily.  
"We are in the Naglfari," he replied as they continued walking. As he was speaking, he gently rolled the small globe from the palm of his hand. The light hovered in the air, unsure of what to do. Loki delicately nudged it forward, and the green orb flew slightly ahead of them, illuminating the pathway. "It's one of the only two buildings in this realm, the other one being Surtur's palace. Logically, it makes sense to keep the Norn Stone here. Surtur has no use for it, so he doesn't keep it in his palace, but he certainly doesn't want others to have it, so he places it here to be guarded by his vile pets and the fire-etins."

"But the Norn Stone does not belong to him," whispered Amora. "It belongs to the Norn Sisters."  
"That may be, but Surtur is in debt to them, so as payment he is to watch over it and protect it from outside influences."  
"Well, he's doing a wonderful job, I must say," she responded sarcastically. Loki smirked at her comment. As they slipped through the passage, they came up to a fork in the path, two tunnels, two ways, but only one was right.  
"Which do we take?" asked Amora. Loki walked up to the one on the left and placed his hand near it, then he went to the other and did the same. He closed his eyes in concentration. It was silent as he stood there, feeling the air, listening to the darkness. His eyes snapped open.  
"It is this one," he said assertively. He vivaciously walked down it, Amora following after him.  
"Are you positive?" she queried. Loki gave her a pique look, which by the pale green light of the orb made him look even more frightening as it only sharpened the angular features of his face.  
"By the sense of heat and sound of oozing magma," he said shortly. There was a pause as Amora stared at him blankly. "There was a cooler breeze coming from the other tunnel," he finished, seeing that she had not fully grasped his meaning.  
They continued their trek through the black walled tunnels, listening only to the shuffling their feet made on the slick floor, and the constant thick drip the lava made. After a while the fiery glow of the magma began to slowly penetrate the darkness, tinging the tunnel with a deep red, making the green orb appear dim and frail. Loki pulled uncomfortably at the collar of his clothing, it was getting hot again. They walked out from the tunnel, onto a ledge, and saw a vast open space. A single, tall, obsidian column, stood erect in the center of the room, the floor surrounding it a burnt-orange, liquid fire giving off noxious fumes. The two sorcerers covered their noses as the ghastly smell reached them. Connecting the pillar of black crystal to the surrounding ledges were five bridges, each only wide enough for one person to pass over at a time, and so thin they looked unable to even support a feather.

"Look," said Amora as she pointed to the slender structure. A bright light was shining above it, hovering over the apex of the obelisk.  
Loki could see it, an orange stone giving off radiant light, brighter than that of the lava beneath it. Carefully, he walked along the crystallized bridge over to the black, glass pillar that the stone hovered over. He stood in front of it, the gem casting a sickly orange glow on Loki's face as he gave a triumphant smirk. It was now his.  
He clasped his pale hand around the stone. A sudden hush fell over the realm, a foreboding stillness split the air. It stayed that way for several moments, the deafening silence, neither one daring to make a move.  
From within the bowels of the planet, a rumble echoed through the cavern. Loki felt his bones throb, and the blood drained from his face. Amora's eyes widened with fear, and she turned slowly to look at him.  
"He knows," said Loki slowly, his voice lowering with dread as he closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. A second, louder boom was heard, this time seeming closer than the last. It shook the walls of the cavern, causing a powdered silt to fall down through the air, dislodging a multitude of small stones. Quickly, Loki pulled his hand away with the stone in his fist, stuffing it into a small bag, then turned and ran, followed closely by Amora. They sprinted through the long corridor, through the winding passageways, the rubble beginning to fall on their heads. Bursting through the opening that led out onto the hot, smoldering plain, they sprinted down the steep slope that lead up to the edifice. They needed to get away from the nearing footsteps. The thundering from the ground was growing louder and occurring more frequently, causing them to lose their footing several times. Just as they rounded a bend where a scattering of large, obsidian boulders lay strewn about, an earth shattering tremor shook the ground.  
Loki fell to the burning, ashen earth, the smell of blistering flesh rising in the air when he hit. "Ahhrg!" he screamed as he reeled away from the land his hands had touched. "We need to get out of here now! The runes are wearing off!" Amora quickly helped him back onto his feet.  
"I know," she replied hastily.  
"You need to create a portal!"  
"Here?" asked Amora hysterically.

"Yes, here and now!" The heat became stifling as the quakes drew nearer. Fire-etins began to bubble and boil out of the land around them. Amora stared at the scene before her, her face filling with horror. "_DO IT!_" he screamed at her. Startled, she placed her shaking hands out in front of her, the sparks of energy beginning to flicker fluently from them. A fire monster loped over to where she stood, intending to slay her, but before it brought its flaming hand down, Loki blasted it with a bolt of green magic, freezing it, causing it to scream in pain and shrivel to the ground. The rumbles from the earth were so strong now that it knocked Amora over and she let out a yelp as she landed painfully on her side.  
"Get up!" yelled Loki. "We need to escape, and preferably _with_ our lives!"  
"I'm trying!" she yelled furiously back at him as she pushed herself up from the ground.  
Then _he_ walked into view, Surtur, the god of Fire. A red hand grabbed the side of the Naglfari, and Surtur could be seen. His wine red skin boiling with fire, his yellow eyes burning with bane, and his fiery white hair dancing behind him like a comet's tail.  
"Come on, move it!" yelled Loki as he fought back another fire-etin. He was becoming steadily weaker the hotter it became. Surtur spotted the two beings with his deep, yellow eyes, and they narrowed. From his side, he extracted a sword, but not of metal. He was instead carrying a blade of flames, and began to lift it into the air, pointing it at them. A dangerous glow started to form at its tip. Quickly, Loki enveloped them a shield of energy, realizing Surtur's intent. From the sword came a blast of fire, whiter and hotter then any fire should have been. It hit the energy field with a sizzling boom, and Loki let out a cry of pain as he fell to the earth, the ground burning his flesh.  
"Amora! Now!" he shouted out as he regained his foothold.

"Hang on!" she yelled back anxiously as she continued the spell, the lightning from her hands now burning brighter than the surrounding land as it twisted down her arms, beginning to create a gateway. Loki felt a searing pain brush against the back of his neck, and he flipped around. A golik was staring him down, it's black and golden eyes tearing into him, it's tongue flicking in and out at his face.  
"Amora!" he strained, not taking his eyes off the creature.  
"Almost!"  
Loki began to back away from the beast, too weak to conjure any more spells, praying that the portal would soon open. The fire-etins began to close in on them, and Surtur's voice was heard. A fierce, thundering voice.  
"Return the stone of Norn, or be consumed by the eternal fires of Hel!"  
"We _need_ to leave-.."  
"Now!" she yelled at him. He turned and sprinted towards the darkened portal, not sure where it would take them, but anywhere was better than here. The golik skittered after him, making a sickening, rasping noise as its tail and belly dragged along the scorched, rocky earth, its eyes narrowing as it followed its prey, poison dripping from its jaws. The fire demons began to lob balls of lava towards them, one passing so close to Loki that it seared his right arm, causing his face distort in agony. Wrenching Amora forward by her forearm as he passed, he dove into the portal and they were pulled through the wormhole, each shouting, tumbling, falling through it, until suddenly there was silence. Cold, pitch blackness surrounded them on all sides. Neither knew where they were, just that the fire-etins were gone, Surtur was gone, Muspelheim was behind them, and the first Norn Stone was in their grasp.  
"Loki," whispered Amora, completely out of breath. "Where's the stone?" There was a slight scramble in the darkness as each felt around for the enchanted crystal.  
"Ah-ha," Loki said once his fingers brushed against the leather bag that held it. "I think I have it, now-.." There was a sudden intake of air from Loki as he felt a piece of sharp, cold metal press against his collarbone.  
"Loki, what's-.."  
"Do not move, or we shall slay you," came a deep, silvery voice from within the murky air. Amora and Loki exchanged dread filled glances with one another in the darkness. They were not alone.

-END CHAPTER 3-

Dun, dun, duuuuuuun! Don't you just love cliffhangers? The creature in here called the golik is not real. It is not in Norse Myth or in the Marvel Comics. I read that there is some sort of reptile/lizard on Muspelheim, but no one knows what it is...so I decided to use my creative license to make up my own monster for this realm. If you want to know what they look like, they are about the size of a Subaru Outback, and they look similar to the Komodo Dragon...but much scarier.

I am busily working on chapter 4, you guys. I hope for it to be up soon, but as it happens I am working on my own Novel at the time so posting may be a tad slow. Sorry about the long wait, but thanks for being patient!


	5. Chapter 4 Part 1: Of Metal and Stone

Wow, I must thank all of you who so patiently waited for the next chapter. As it is I am bashing myself over the head with how long it actually took to write this. School has started so I know that I will have less time, but I already have chapter 6 mostly written, the plot for Chapter 4 Part 2 nearly done, and nothing for chapter 5 except a rough outline. Feel free to leave a review on this to let me know your feelings on this chapter or the whole story so far. Again, you readers are amazing! Thank you for staying interested.

Before I let you read, I must thank my two Betas: Indigoxsoul and Larissa Loyd who, when one was busy, the other would pick up the slack. Thank you!

-Kipp

Chapter 4 Part 1: Of Metal and Stone

Loki made a move to stand up, but was stopped by the sharp pain that shot through his shoulder from that blasted spear tip.

"Do not move or you shall be slain," came the silvery voice again, this time more stern.

Loki clasped his hand around the small gem-sack and whispered something under his breath, making it and the book in the satchel on his hip disappear, stored in a safe place where they waited for him to call them back in possession when needed like the Casket of Ancient Winters. He sat back on his haunches, slowly raising his hands in the air as a sign of submission. Amora followed suit.

"Get up," said the dark voice, the point of the pike pressing harder into Loki's skin, nearly drawing blood. He inhaled a sharp hiss. Cautiously, both of the travelers stood. A blue glow lit up the air around them and their captors became visible. Midnight-blue, almost black skin flashed back at them, and tall, fine-pointed ears for hearing dangers in the dead of night when eyes would fail stood erect. Their hair glimmered a silver-white in the light of the blue lantern that was held up, making their black eyes shine like crystal orbs, dangerous and fierce. One of them, the tallest and most fierce looking one among them, walked up to Loki and looked him square in the face. "What business do you have in the realm of the Dark Elves?" His voice was as smooth as silk, but an air of danger hung about it like the blade of a knife sheathed in fine leather, it's handle ornately carved.

"Ah, so we are in Svartalfheim," said Loki to himself, his eyebrows raising and lips thinning in annoyance. He turned to look at Amora. "Good job." She scowled at him and shook her head. Turning back to the elf who had questioned him, he said, "Pardon my answering your question with a question, but who are you to ask us of our business?"

"Algrim," he replied flatly. "_What _is your business?"

"The business of our charge does not concern you."

"But you out of all Asgardians should know, Loki Odinson, the requirements of the peace treaty. After all, you were one of the ambassadors to distill it." A tone of mockery lingered in his voice. Loki's eyes hardened to stone. He still despised being called a son of Odin, something he was not, nor ever had been. He remained silent, looking into Algrim's narrowed, darkened eyes. Unspoken words of enmity passed between the stare of the commander and the prince.

"If you will not answer to me," said the elf stiffly after a long moment of shrill stillness, "then be sure that you will answer to Malekith." He turned to those surrounding them with a near snarl on his face and spoke, "Bind their hands behind their back, but watch their tricky fingers. They are both sorcerers. And do not let that one-.." Here he pointed to Loki. "Do not let that one speak to you. His silver tongue will charm any who dare listen."

Two elves stepped out from the shadows of the light gray barked trees, one with two sets of dark silver manacles that glowed almost a black, sucking in all light, and the other with a pair of neck cuffs linked together by a single, thick chain. Loki smiled nervously as they walked closer to him and Amora.

"You need not use those on us, Algrim," he said persuasively as he placed a hand on his chest and waved the other in Enchantress' direction. "You can trust that we will not flee, we have no intention of doing so. Neither of us are that idioti-..."

"Silence him!" shouted Alrigm as he pointed menacingly to the god, a fire in his black eyes. "Do not let him speak!" The two dark elves walked up behind them. They took the bag that rested against Loki's hip, and the water satchels that Amora had on her back and placed them on the horses as a sign they would not be getting them back anytime soon. Roughly, they then wrenched the prisoner's arms behind their backs and snapped the cold cuffs around their wrists and necks. Loki felt the hands of the elves searching his legs, arms and chest, feeling every spot where he could've hidden a weapon. He gave a smug leer to the guards who patted him down, knowing that they would find nothing. They had been going to search Amora, but she gave them such a fiery glare that it would've been a challenge for a frostgiant to put out. The guards backed away.

The god's eyes darted over to where a third elf was walking out of the gloom. He came over and placed a mouth restraint over Loki's lips and strapped it tightly around his face, making him wince at the pressure it placed on his jaw. That elf smirked at the pain it caused Loki, and in stepping back he gave him a mock bow.

"Your majesty," he said, contempt flickering in his dark eyes.

"Enough," said Algrim grimly, facing the opposite direction. "Do not mock him, Firavel. He may be our captive, but he is still dangerous. If you toy with a snake you will be bitten." Firavel looked back at Loki who gave him a hissing snicker through the gag, his eyes sparkling with mischief. Firavel's expression hardened and he stepped back into the shadows. _Even when I am bound they still fear me_, thought Loki proudly.

Chained and powerless, the captives were led forward by the elves through the dark forest. The moon was nearly unable to penetrate the foliage, the mist deathly cold against their skin as they were escorted through the woods into a small clearing. They could see several dark horses that were bound by their reins to the lowest branches of the trees whose trunks reached far up into the darkened sky. The two prisoners were jerked forward by the elf that led them, and their restraints were handed to Algrim who swiftly fastened them to one of the saddles. He then agilely mounted his horse's back. They were lead in silence for a long while, the mist churning in the air as they moved, the damp smell of dew clinging to their garments, the sound of the trees moaning and swaying above them, and the overall murkiness that swallowed what little light there was.

Suddenly they heard a low, dark grumbling from the trees beside them. A pair of shining golden eyes reflected the light from the lantern. Something was walking with them in parallel from behind the shadows. Amora`s eyes widened ever so slightly and she helplessly tugged at the chains. Loki tried to remain calm, but every muscle in his body contracted, and he readied himself for the future attack from whatever unholy beasts lurked after them. The elves kept walking as if they had heard nothing. A heavy black paw stepped into the light and the golden eyes neared them. Loki held his breath waiting for the creature to reveal itself. As the beast stepped forward the captives saw that it was followed by others, a pack of large black wolves, their white pointy teeth gleaming in the pale glow of the lanterns. Something dark and wet dripped from their strong jaws.

Algrim smirked darkly. "Úlfur." One of the wolves came forward and Loki could hear the growl that resonated from its chest. Amora and Loki watched in confusion at the antics of the wolf. But soon they felt such a sudden relief that Amora felt faint while Loki fought the urge to roll his eyes at his own foolish fear. Now with the presence of the wolves, Algrim urged his horse forward and the party began again in silence. The elves were careful to ride slowly so their captives would be able to keep up with their pace, but not slow enough as to allow them a leisurely walk. The wolves curious, but still aggressive, went to investigate these new creatures. Amora couldn't bear the beasts so close to her. She would occasionally stick a foot out to try and hit them so they would leave, or involuntarily inhale when she felt a wet nose brush up against her leg. She jumped forward when a cold, clammy tongue licked her leg, running into the dark prince of Asgard, causing them both to stumble.

"Don't annoy the wolves," said Algrim in a belittling manner. "They bite."

Loki pushed Amora away from him and gave her a black look as he straightened himself. _She can fight against giants and ogres, and yet is afraid of these... mere dogs, _thought the god. Loki gave a nettled sigh. He liked the animals, though they did not appear to feel the same about him as they seemed to growl louder when he looked at them, but they still held their curiosity. They were an enigma for him. The wolves were ferocious beasts, yet the elves had tamed them. They were beautiful predators. Their bodies strong, their movement fluid and graceful. Their fiery golden eyes could make even the bravest shiver. And yet, they were mere pets. Amusement sparkled within the god of Mischief.

The pack began to slow their movements and they hunkered closer to the ground, their ears began to swerve back and forth, and a low growl could be heard coming from deep within them. Their eyes seemed to glow almost brighter with animosity. Loki looked from them up to Algrim and saw his ears twitching as well. He looked left and right, and then dismounted his steed in one facile movement, landing on the ground with barely any noise.

"Firavel, come with me. Arrow at the ready," he whispered in a deep tone to the elf. Silently, they both drifted off into the shadows ahead, the mist swirling around them and then concealing them completely. Loki's ears pricked as he heard low voices in the distance speaking in a foreign tongue, one smooth and the other raspy. _The dwarves_, thought Loki as a small smile crept onto his face under the muzzle. _Even the elves must kneel to those under them, to pay them tribute as if they were servants._

Algrim walked out from the misty shadows, his face as grim as ever but his eyes looking more irritated than before, and remounted his horse. Loki smirked to himself, but it was obvious even with his mouth restraint. Disdain marked Algrim's eyes, and they fixed onto the Asgardian.

"What are you grinning about?" Loki's simper only grew wider, and his eyes narrowed with a devious glint as he knew the treaties between the Dark Dwarves and the Dark Elves were fragile at best. The Dark Elves had been in a war on Alfheim with their cousins, the Light Elves, and had lost. Because of their treason, they had been exiled. None of the other eight realms would grant them stay, except the dwarves of Svartalfheim. But they required a regular toll from them as payment, and it was a high price. _Even those who are greater are made to bow to the lesser. _Loki's eyes darkened with conceit as he thought. _The time is coming when those in Asgard will become as the Dark Elves._

X X X

It had been four days since she had run away from his room crying at his words, and now he was nowhere to be found. _But maybe that is for the better_, she thought. Sigyn was sitting alone, her knees pulled into her chest, on a couch that faced one of the many large, arched openings in the wall, the sun's rays and the cool breeze comforting her as she relaxed. Maybe there had been a reason for her not waiting for Loki beside a lost hope. She rested her chin on her knees and heaved a sigh. Her wedding to Theoric was coming and soon, and mentally she was not yet prepared.

"Sigyn?" came a warm voice. Thor walked out from around the corner and sat, weighing down his side of the couch so much so that Sigyn slid up next to him. He placed his thick arm around her. "How is it that one of the most beautiful ladies can change from joyous, to upset, to gloomy all within a matter of little over a week?" Sigyn gave a soft laugh.

"Thor, I am neither happy, nor angry, nor gloomy. I am just... troubled."

"Care to explain?"

"No Thor," she smiled. "This riddle is for my own conscience." Thor studied her face with his confused one, but whatever questions he had he let them drop.

"So," he began, "are you prepared for your big day?" Sigyn smiled weakly. "Ah... I see that you're not. Well, I thought you might not be, so I brought someone who knows more about this than I." He looked up to where he had entered, and Sigyn followed his eyes. Frigga, wife of Odin and mother of Thor, wearing a long dress in the colors of vermilion and bittersweet gold, had come in silently and now stood there, her compassionate gaze resting upon the two of them.

"Thank you, dear," she said lovingly as she walked over. "You may leave us now." Giving Thor a smile he well knew, he nodded, drew himself up, bowed ever so regally, and left. After he had gone Frigga turned to Sigyn. "Now, my dear." Her voice was as sweet as honey just as Sigyn's was as sweet as the morning dew. "Thor has fervently voiced his concern about you to myself and my husband many times. Is there something that troubles you?" There was a deep silence, but at length Sigyn spoke.

"Love."

"Ahh," said the beloved queen knowingly. "Oh, my dear do not be embarrassed," she laughed, for Sigyn had looked away and had a slight blush on her cheeks. "Love is nothing to be ashamed of. And if I remember correctly you are to be wed by Odin himself to one of his Crimson Hawks, Theoric, a high honor indeed, along with still being a member of our personal healers." Sigyn smiled hesitantly. "But... I think it is not embarrassment that truly holds your heart captive in such a melancholy state, is it?" When Frigga looked into her eyes she saw that they were clouded with so many hidden emotions that they looked almost a dark green.

"No, my queen, it is not embarrassment. Being engaged... it-.. it is the most wonderful thing that has happened to me. It's just... my heart. I don't feel ready. I feel as if... what if this is the wrong choice?" The queen smiled tenderly.

"Sigyn." She took her hands in her own. "Dear, sweet Sigyn. Ever since you laid foot in our court all those years ago you have been a joy to everyone your light has touched, even to Loki, so precious, humble and innocent are you." Sigyn could not keep her gaze with Frigga and dropped her eyes. "I felt the same on my wedding day to the king. It is natural to feel... unsure. But you knew when you accepted who you had, and you made your choice." She leaned forward and gave Sigyn a comforting hug which she gingerly accepted. "Do not doubt yourself, dear. If you love him, and he love you then be reassured in your decision." She pulled away, her hands still resting on the young woman's shoulders, and each smiled at one another.

"Thank you, my queen. You have helped to clear my mind, and have lifted a great burden."

"Well, when even my eldest son becomes aware of a woman being troubled in thought I think it's worth a look as he is still... ignorant at times. But I will leave you now to ponder your thoughts." Both women got up, and Sigyn curtsied as the queen left with a gracious smile. Sigyn then turned and walked down the opposite direction until she came to a set of stone steps that led into a different part of the garden. This was mostly open lawn with colorful flowers low to the ground, and out on a terrace that extended from the gardens and hung over a drop was planted a large weeping willow, it's leaves fluttering in the breeze. To this she walked through the vine-like branches, and under its foliage canopy, found the comfort of finally being alone in her thoughts. She sat on a stump that was near the base of the willow and gave a relieved sigh, her mind now relaxed and clear as she closed her eyes.

X X X

After what seemed like hours of walking, Loki, Amora, and their captors arrived in Caelanto*, the city of the Dark Elves. The trees in this area were massive; the trunks so large it would take a man five minutes to walk around it, the color, a pale blue-gray, and its bark as smooth as a peeled willow switch. The leaved branches of the trees, which reached far up into the starlit sky, created a canopy of silver that shimmered in the moonlight. The mist hugged the ground, hiding the deep, sea-green grass beneath it, making everything appear beautiful and dangerous at the same time. No buildings were set upon the earth, but instead resided in the trees. Enormous, spiral stairs wound their way around the sides of the polished, thick trunks. No lanterns were required as the travelers came to the first set of steps, the trees themselves glowed a soft blue and reflected off the railing of the stairway. Algrim slid off his horse and took the chains of the captives.

*Caelanto (Kay-LAwn-too) is a mythical city from my imagination that does not exist in the Marvel Universe.

"Firavel, yassen amin," he said as he motioned to his warrior to follow. He looked to the other elves and pointed at the horses. "Tel' esta en' lle hosta i' rokko." As the horses were being led away, Algrim made Loki and Amora walk first up the stairs while he and Firavel ambled along behind them, discussing things in quiet voices in the tongue of the dark elves.

"Mani lle lye yassen i' nandor en' huanrim?" whispered Firavel to Algrim. Loki's muscles stiffened, and he looked back at him, his emerald eyes burning with venom. _Cowardly dogs indeed, _he thought spitefully. The warrior elf looked up at him, his eyes dancing with mockery, but continued talking with his captain. Amora had understood what he had said and angrily whispered an insult she knew that the elves sensitive ears would pick up.

"Quel tanya san' mool en' ai gwaith." Algrim's eyes snapped up to the Asgardians and he yanked harshly on their chains causing them to stumble back a few steps. The elf caught Amora and held her close to him, gripping her wrists.

"_We _are no slaves! Watch your tongue, Witch," he hissed into her ear, shoving her forward to continue walking up the steps. The rest of the trip was taken in silence as they listened to the sound of hammers against metal and the drip of dew off the leaves above. When they had reached the two-thirds mark an hour and a half later, they came to a small platform off to the side of the stairs. It was thin and made of the blue-gray wood of the trees, inlaid with silver and diamond ornamentation intricately carved as large leaves. Three of these made the dais, one slightly higher than the other two creating a step down. However, there was no railing along the edge to prevent a fall.

"This is to be your prison," said Algrim as he began to take the cuffs off from around Loki and Amora's neck and wrists. "You will wait here until Malekith summons you."

Amora snickered. "This," she motioned around her. "This is your prison to hold us? Do you really think that keeping us in a place with no restraints is wise?" Algrim's face darkened to a deeper blue, his black eyes sparkling with a hint of amusement.

"Do not let its simple appearance fool you," he smirked. "You will find this prison harder to escape from than most." The elf stepped off the terrace next to Firavel and the silver edges of the leaves began to glow. "Any who are not of Dark Alfar blood are trapped here until retrieved by one of our kind. It is covered by a shield of energy that is impenetrable to your magic, young prince," here he looked to Loki, "it will do you no good should you try and escape. You cannot walk out with the shield up, but any can walk in." He turned around and began to tread up the steps, the chains still in his hands leaving the Enchantress and a muted god of Mischief to wait in the pale light of the trees.

"Wait," Amora called up to them. "Aren't you going to remove Loki's muzzle?" The two Dark Elves turned back to them.

"No," replied Algrim shortly. "It would be good for that hellion to learn how to control his serpentine tongue, so it will stay on until Malekith has need of his silver, slippery words." Loki's eyes narrowed into daggers, but Algrim paid no attention. Only Firavel gave any hint as to his feelings, looking very smug in the face as they turned away. _Self-righteous, complacent cretin...__both __of them, _thought Loki as his tongue formed the words inside his mouth. If only he could spit them out.

After they were no longer in sight, Loki walked up to the edge of the platform and peered over. Several hundred feet of air stood between him and the ground. He reached out into the blackened air, his hand brushing against the invisible shield, creating a quick silver spark when his skin grazed it. His brow furrowed and he gave a perplexed sigh.

"They have built it well," said Amora as she came over and stepped down to stand next to Loki. "But that doesn't mean I am not willing to try and break it." She raised her hands to the edge of the field, letting her fingertips rest against the cool surface. It madly shot off sizzling, silver sparks, not liking the touch of flesh against its surface. Loki shook his head back and forth in warning, but Amora continued. "Brjóta hlíf."

A bright purple light erupted from the center of her palms, but instead of absorbing into the energy shield to destroy it as it should've, it deflected off the wall sending Amora to the ground as the ball of energy ricocheted off the enchanted barrier of their prison. Loki ducked to avoid being hit and then blasted the destructive magic sphere with his own powerful green one, canceling them out in a flash of bright light. He watched them slowly fizzle out as they floated the ground like particles of dust. Turning to Amora, he shot her a burning, emerald glare. He walked over to her and struck her, his eyes blackened with animosity.

As she still looked to the ground, Loki gave one short nod to make sure she understood to _never_try that again, and walked back down the step to continue looking out into the night at the large trees. "I am not sorry," she added through clenched teeth. She looked up at him and sighed mockingly, "Pity they took the book in the Shallow Forest, we could've figure out the next riddle. I hope you had the sense to hide the stone."

Loki turned, throwing her a most frightening glare, but he soon calmed down, giving her an evil grin from under the restraint. With a flick of his wrist the blue, leather book appeared in his hands. In one simultaneous motion, he opened it, flipped to the page of riddles, and handed her the text while he took a step away. Amora looked at the tan page with the beautiful golden script, and read aloud the riddle:

"Spun in darkness, they make beautiful things

That glimmer and glow, that smart and sting.

Where mountains and forests collide to make one

These people together make kingdoms strong.

The sound of a thousand gongs ring aloud

As mineral is molded and earth rewound.

Where these races abide, here you will find

In the heart of the forest, the gem of your eye."

Loki stood on the lower step facing out towards the darkness, fire-flies buzzing around and about him, his eyes closed and his arm crossed over his chest, the other-his hand resting on his chin as his fingers stroked the metal covering that rested over his lips. He waved his arm at Amora.

"What?" she asked. He turned to her and pointed to the book. "Right. Spun in darkness, they make beautiful things, that glimmer and glow, that smart and sting." There was a pause as each thought. "Spun in darkness could refer to spiders as they spin webs, but spiders are not considered beautiful. Plus things is plural, and spiders don't only spin their webs at night." Loki nodded his head, agreeing with her statement. "Now, glimmer and glow, and smart and sting."

Amora watched his face as he thought, watched as the sparks of dexterity began to glow in his emerald eyes. He then looked back up to her. Clenching both fists, he stacked them on top of one another and began to swing them around as if he were fighting. The Enchantress looked at him at a loss of words, raising an eyebrow. Loki, giving a muffled sigh, walked over to the book and pointed at the phrase "smart and sting." He again stacked his fists upon one another, raising both eyebrows, and nodding his head.

"Holding something that stings...staff, um...rod-..hammer. Mjolnir?" She sighed as Loki fervently shook his head. He started to swing his hands again. She stared at it, thinking hard, and then in realization she spoke, "Sword?-Sword, sword!" Loki threw his hands up into the air at her slow realization (for to him the answer had been obvious).

"So who ever _they _are, they make weapons. What about the glimmer and glow? Whatever it is, it has to be different than smart and sting or else there would be only one description, not two. So it's something handcrafted that shines and is...pretty." There was silence as each sorcerer pondered the question. "Jewelry!" Loki's eyes shifted over to her. "It is jewelry, it glimmers under light." He nodded his head slowly in agreement, but still had doubt that that was the true answer; _there are plenty other things that can glimmer and glow that are not a woman's frippery_, he thought. "So these people make weapons and adornments for the body."

Amora turned her face back to the pages of the book and read the next verse. "Where mountains and forests collide to make one, these people together make kingdoms strong. Mountains and forests. If there are two different terrains, and we already know that there are two races, and that the races most commonly associated with mountains are dwarves, and those most commonly associated with forests are elves then..." She paused. "And if those two terrains are together, then it can't be Alfheim, or Nidavellir because those are separate realms. Which only leaves Svartalfheim to be the realm where the second stone is located. The dark dwarves and the dark elves share this place, and..." here she looked down at the text, "'where these races abide, here you will find, in the heart of the forest the gem of your eye.'" There was another moments pause when suddenly she exclaimed quite savagely,

"You owe me an apology!" Loki gave a snort and turned away. "Oh no you don't," she said as she grabbed him. "Back when we were first caught you showed me such disdain and contempt, and for that you owe me. As well as the fact that you came to me for help. Without _me _you wouldn't be here, without _me _your plan would fail." Loki stepped up to her in attempts to silence her with fear, but she stood her ground. "It almost pains me to hear your silence," she smirked. Loki's eyes burned, and a hint of red could be seen in them. His nostrils flared in anger, and all the things he could've said nearly suffocated him.

But slowly his face cleared and with despisal he bent forward, giving her a bow as Firavel had given him. "And remember," continued Amora, her voice lowering as Loki stood up. She stepped closer to his body, closer than even he liked. "Remember the deal we made, Snake. You are mine once this is over." Loki stiffened upon remembering his bargain, but Amora looked as smug as ever.

The sound of footsteps made both prisoners back away from one another and look behind them. It had been only about forty-five minutes since Algrim had left, and now he returned with five foot soldiers. "If you two lovebirds are done bickering and trying to escape, we will escort you." He stood outside the edge of the prison, looking down on them. "Though I must say, Witch, you're attempt with the energy blast was...amusing, if nothing else." He turned to the other. "And Loki, my, but you're temper has grown. Has being a traitor hampered your ability to properly conduct yourself?" If just the glare from a frost giant could freeze a man's spirit, Loki's glare would've done so to Algrim's cocky one.

"Has Malekith called for us?" asked Amora, her words biting and acidic.

**"**Yes M'lady, he has." He signaled to the guards, and they entered the prison. Grabbing the prisoner's wrists, they pulled them in front and clicked the cuffs into place, leading them from their holding cell, up the stairs, and into Malekith's chamber.

-END CHAPTER 4 PART 1-


End file.
